Author's Note: What is this? An update way ahead of schedule? Yep, that's exactly what it is. As many of you know, I don't upload new chapters as soon as finish them (or better said, as soon as my betareader checks them), but I try to keep many chapters written in advance so I can keep a regular updating schedule. However, given that, as of this writting, I'm currently writting the second to last chapter (chapter 132), I believe that I can now update this story far more often without worrying about running of already written chapters. Aren't you guys happy?
We're into the home stretch now, people. To quote a certain Star Wars movie, this is where the fun begins. Enjoy:
Chapter 120:
Attack on Genbu Island
or
Teenage Ninjas on a Turtle Escape from Mutants
Genbu the Turtle Island, early in the morning
As it was usual for them, Naruto and Fu woke up as early as the sun started to rise in the horizon, bathing the giant turtle pretending to be an island in light, slowly driving the shadows away.
With a loud yawn, Naruto woke up, stretching his muscles as he started to climb out of his sleeping bag, placed at the base of a large tree. The rustling noises he was making, coupled with the increasing sunlight, woke up Fu as well, who was sleeping at the other side of the tree.
"Hey, Fu, you awake?" Naruto asked, as he started to change into his usual clothes.
"Morning, Naruto," Fu's voice came from the other side of the tree, still sounding a little drowsy. Naruto imagined she was changing as well. "And yep."
A few minutes later, the two jinchuriki were now fully changed, and after placing their sleeping bags on their respective backpacks, they started to walk towards Killer B's house. The jinchuriki of the Eight Tails liked to wake up early as well, since watching the sunrise filled him with inspiration to write songs. Or so he said.
"So, ready for another day of training?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah. But I'm more ready for breakfast," Fu said, laughing a little. "I feel way hungrier since I started working on mastering Chomei's chakra."
"Really?" Naruto asked, raised an eyebrow. "Because I feel like eating the same as normal."
"Your bodies are getting used to our chakra, which is way more potent than your puny human chakra," the Nine Tails chimed in. "Hence it makes you consume more energy than usual, which translates into a greater apetite."
"But I don't feel anymore hungry than I usually do," Naruto pointed out.
There were a large flock of birds who flew into the sky, cawing loudly, as if flying away from a predator. Fu found it a bit odd, but Naruto paid them no mind.
"Because I don't think it's physically possible to eat more than you usually do," Kurama snarked. "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't look like an Akimichi, given that you eat like one."
"Hey, I'm still in a growing-"
Naruto was suddenly silenced by a golden arrow piercing him with such force, it hurled him backwards. The suddeness of the moment was so great, the green haired girl needed several seconds to process what just happened.
"Naruto-"
"Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling!"
Suddenly, a huge shadow was cast over Fu, and much to her horror, the Taki kunoichi saw an absurdly large boulder flying at her. She barely have any time to mutter a curse before said boulder buried her into the ground, producing a loud booming noise.
Two ninjas landed on the area, one of them on top of the giant rock that had crushed Fu. They were wearing the same uniform consisting on a beige tunic with an all white Yin-Yang crest on it, a large purple rope serving as a makeshift belt, and black pants. But the most eye catching element about them was their inhuman appearance: they both had dark red skin with cracks running through it, black eyes with yellow irises, and one had multiple warts on his body, and the other had six arms and three eyes.
They were Jirobo and Kidomaru, two members of the Otogakure elite squad known as the Sound Five. They had died alongside Sakon and Ukon more than three years prior, but walked among the living again thanks to Impure World Resurrection.
"And done!" Jirobo laughed. "This was such an easy job. And Orochimaru-sama made it appear as if we were going to struggle."
"I hope you didn't kill her," Kidomaru said, looking at the giant rock with a bit of worry. "I know jinchuriki are tougher than usual, but you went a bit overboard. We might be dead already, but Orochimaru-sama will torture us into insanity if we fumble this mission."
"Nah, she's still alive. I can feel her chakra," Jirobo said. "What about you, huh? That arrow was pretty brutal."
"I deliberatedly avoided any vital spots. He should be wounded but fine," Kidomaru assured. "Anyway, I better go fecth him before-"
"What the-?" Jirobo said, as he was almost thrown of balance.
He could sense how Fu's chakra was skyrocketing, while an incredible force pushed the giant boulder upwards from above. Jirobo was forced to jump down, and much to his astonishment, he saw Fu climbing out of the hole she had been pushed into, while carrying the giant boulder above her head as if it weighed nothing. She then tossed the boulder into the air, when it disappeared among the clouds, while she pierced Jirobo with an anger filled glare.
"I don't know who the hell you are. Or what the hell you are," Fu seethed, taking notice of Jirobo's monstrous appearance. "But that was a mistake. You're going to need something more than a little pebble to crush me."
Jirobo was intimidated at first, and took a step back, but upon reminding himself that he was immortal, he held his ground and adopted a fighting stance.
"So, you're strong, and have a bit of muscle, so what? You can't beat us no matter how hard you try!" Jirobo fired back. "And I can crush you with a force much greater than that boulder! I'm going to smash you so badly, you're going to wish for me to grant you the mercy of a quick death!"
"Oh really? Well then, I'm going to punch you so hard that... uh..." Fu began, as she tried to come up with a good one liner. Meanwhile, in the distance, Jirobo's boulder fell into the sea, making a huge splash. "I'm going to punch you so hard, that you'd wish I didn't punch you so hard!" Fu replied, proud of her awful, awful comeback.
"Ha, I'd like to see-"
However, before Jirobo could finish his line, Fu crossed the distance separating them in an instant, and delivered an unppercut with all her strength, raising a gust of wind in every direction. The uppercut send Jirobo flying into the sky, disappearing into the clouds as well, but unlike the boulder that Fu had thrown either, he wouldn't fall back into the planet, but go into orbit.
Kidomaru watched the whole exchange in horror, as he realized just how outclassed he was agaisnt this enemy.
"Shit, I'm out of here!" Kidomaru said, as he started to run away. "This game's difficulty level is way above my pay grade!"
However, Kidomaru didn't go too far, as a hand of golden chakra caught him, and pulled him back again. The six armed zombie saw Naruto, enveloped in a bright golden shroud of chakra, the chakra making one of his arms disproportionatedly large. Naruto was holding the arrow Kidomaru shot at him on the other hand.
"I knew this was familiar," Naruto said, as he shattered the hardened wax arrow on his hand. "So Orochimaru decided to bring you losers back to life? Innocent dying is always a tragedy, but the fact that people have to die to bring scumbags like you back..."
"You know him, Naruto?" Fu asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. This guy and some of his friends who worked for Orochimaru tried to kidnap my little siblings three years ago," Naruto said. "He and three more wedied, but other two survived, and then went to help Orochimaru with Roshi's kidnapping. Still, these guys were an okay challenge for us when we were Genin and newly minted Chunin, but compared with the power we have now... I almost feel insulted."
"What are we going to do with him?" Fu asked.
"We can't kill him. As in, we literally can't, these reanimations are immortal, they regenerate endlessly," Naruto explained. "The best solution would be to immobilize and seal him. Though given that you sent the other guy into outer space, you think you can do the same to this one?"
"Maybe, but if immobilizing is an option, I do have a simpler solution," Fu said, before pointing all of her ten fingers at the restrained Kidomaru, and shoot chakra threads at him. The chakra threads quickly covered his body, encasing him inside a cocoon that completely restricted his movement. "And done! Can you make some chakra suppressing seal?"
"In my sleep," Naruto said, as he placed the cocoon on the ground, while placing a hand on top of it. A seal was formed, followed by chains of sealing symbols that wrapped themselves around the cocoon, securing it completely. "This guy won't go anywhere."
"Good," Fu said with a nod. "Though... how did this guy got here? Wasn't this place supposed to be super safe so Akatsuki wouldn't find us?"
"That's... a rather troubling thought," Naruto said, as he directed his gaze towards a cluster of trees. "Perhaps those guys over there can provide us with some answers."
…
Naruto wasn't looking at some random cluster of trees. That's where Sakon and Ukon, also in their second cursed seal forms, were hiding, overseeing Jirobo and Kidomaru, ready to strike in case they needed the twins' help. But upon seeing how easily the jinchuriki had taken the two Oto reanimations down, the remaining two turned around and ran away. The thought that Orochimaru was allowing them to abandon their mission didn't even cross their minds.
"Shit, this is too much for us! Why the hell Kimimaro thought in sending us against such powerful targets?" Ukon asked.
"Who cares? Just shut up and run!" Sakon chided.
"DOUBLE LARIAT!"
Suddenly, the twin reanimations felt their necks being slammed by a pair of dark skinned muscular arms, sending them tumbling backwards, where two other people quickly restrained them.
"Sorry, but this place is for my vacation, no one can enter here without my invitation!" a dark skinned man wearing sunglasses and a Kumogakure uniform said. They realized he was Killer B, the third jinchuriki on the island. The ones restraining them were clones of him as well.
"Hey, B-sensei!" Naruto said, as he and Fu landed besides him. "You found the other two!"
"You knew we were there?" Ukon asked. "How? You are not a sensor!"
"Funny thing about this mode," Naruto said, as he closed and opened his hand. "But something I noticed that I can do when I'm using the Kurama Chakra Cloak is that I can sense people's negative emotions. At least when they aren't too far away from me. So yeah, trying to use stealth against me is useless unless you can hide your killing intent."
"There's a more important question. How did you find this place? The turtle island leaves no trace," Killer B interrogated.
"I don't think that's important right now. It seems these guys aren't the only ones who came here. Akatsuki knows about this place, and we're under attack right now," Naruto said. "Come on, we need to seal them and find the rest!"
"Seal, you say? Leave it to me, then lead the way," Killer B made a hand seal. "Sealing Art: Octopus Hold!"
The Killer B clones restraining Sakon and Ukon turned into blots of ink that completely covered the Oto reanimations, before hardening into pitch black cocoons. Naruto was about to put chakra suppressing seals on them, but it wasn't necessary as seals appeared on their own.
"You know fuinjutsu too? Neat," Naruto asked, clearly surprised, but if his smile was anything to go by, pleased by said surprise. His smile disppeared, as he reminded his fellow jinchuriki of the situation at hand. "Though, I'm sure there are more people in the island, and much stronger than these guys."
As if on cue, all three of them could hear the sound of several people running towards them. Fu and Killer B tensed up, but Naruto was oddly relaxed.
"Calm down, they aren't enemies. Didn't you just hear what I said?" Naruto asked.
And indeed, soon they saw a group of Konoha and Kumo ninjas in front of them, including the likes of Yugao, Hayate, Tenzo, Choza and Motoi, with the Third Hokage leading the group. All of them looked ready to battle.
"I've sensed some intruders! I can't believe that they got past me and got so far into the island!" Yugao said, sounding panicked. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yep. Nothing we couldn't deal with!" Fu replied, flexing a bicep for added emphasis.
"I believe the enemies you just beat were a mere scouting force. Orochimaru wouldn't risk his strongest reanimations like that," Hiruzen pondered. "However, that brings us to the troubling conclusion that Akatsuki has found the location of this island."
Motoi looked as if he had been struck by lightning. "But... that's impossible! No one has ever been able to track this place!"
"They could if they had a mole among us," Choza suggested.
Naruto, however, shook his head. "If there was a mole, I would have sensed their ill intent. In all the days I've been here training in the Kurama Chakra Cloak, I didn't sense such thing."
"Maybe they did, if they had aerial scouts," Hayate interceded, before coughing a couple times. "Still, wondering how the island was found was irrelevant. This place is no longer safe. We need to evacuate Naruto-san, Fu-san and B-san to somwhere else before-"
Naruto, Yugao and Hiruzen tensed up, quickly adopting fighting stances, followed by everybody.
"Yugao-san? Hokage-sama? Naruto-san?" Tenzo asked. "Did you sense more enemies?"
"Yes," Hiruzen said, frowning. "In greater numbers, and much stronger than the ones Naruto-kun and Fu just beat. And some of them have chakra that feels... oddly familiar."
"Hey..." Fu said, as she was trying to listen to something. "Do you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Naruto asked. That's it, until he started to hear the sound as well. It was a familiar sound, one that, for some reason, did not bring pleasant memories.
"A flute..." Fu said.
And then, Naruto finally realized why the sound was familiar, and why he didn't like it.
"Guys! Watch out! We're about to be put under a genjutsu! Dispel it before it takes hold!"
Naruto quickly brought his hand together, forming a hand seal, ready to send a burst of chakra through his body, but much to his frustration, he was too late. He watched in horror how his hands started to melt into a disgusting mass of liquid flesh, soon followed by the rest of his arms. He fell to the ground when his legs also turned into jelly.
The blond jinchuriki saw in horror how the rest of the ninjas around him fell to the ground as well, unable to fight the dreadful genjutsu. Following that, he sensed more enemies landed around them in a circle.
"That's it? That's all it took to bring a former Hokage and three jinchuriki down?" a voice asked. It sounded distorted, but it felt familiar to Naruto.
"Don't underestimate them, Kabuto. The genjutsu won't last long," another voice said, this one sounding raspier.
The intruders continued talking among themselves as they approached the fallen ninjas, probably to immobilize and restrain them. Meanwhile, Naruto was forced to see how his body continued to melt.
"Come on, come on... Sakura and Haku were able to break out of this genjutsu on their own," the blond reminded himself. "Yeah, they're genjutsu specialists and I'm not, but given the amount of power I have now, breaking out of a genjutsu should be a cakewalk!"
Naruto continued to try to break the illusion with nothing but his force of will, as he tried to disrupt his chakra the best way he could. Somebody watching would say that his efforts were doomed.
Until the illusion broke. Naruto's body returned to normal. He was able to move freely once again.
"Uh? Hey, I did it!" Naruto thought in joy.
"Like hell you did!" Kurama scoffed. "You have me to thank for saving your sorry ass! Again!"
"Wait... were you who undid this genjutsu? Are you able to do that, Kurama?" Naruto asked.
"Did you forget the best way to break a genjutsu? If you can't disturb your own chakra yourself, you need a partner to do it for you," Kurama explained. "So you're welcome. And before you ask, yes, this means that as long as you have me covering your back, no genjutsu will affect you."
"Really? Whoa, thank you!" Naruto excitedly said.
"Now take advantage of the fact that they still think you're harmless to sneak a sucker punch," Kurama suggested.
Naruto didn't need to be told. Like a golden missile, he leaped to his feet and launched himself forward, slamming his first into the nearest cloaked figure. The force of the blow pulled the figure's hood back, revealing to be a middle aged man with a cross scar on his chin, and, surprisingly enough, a Sharingan eye. That was a familiar face, but Naruto could swear that he had saw that man somewhere else.
"He broke the genjutsu!" another of the cloaked figures said, as he and the others quickly leaped back. He removed his cloak and tossed it away, revealing himself to be Kimimaro Kaguya, who quicky went into his Cursed Seal Second Stage.
Naruto could see that Fu and Killer B had also broken out of the genjutsu, probably the same way Naruto did, and quickly freed the others as well. Soon, the entire group was back on their feet, ready to fight.
"I can't believe this is the second time such thing happens!" the voice of a woman screamed, as Tayuya, already in her Second Stage Cursed Form as well, joined Kimimaro and the reanimations. "What's with you fuckers resisting genjutsu like that!?"
"Don't act surprised, it had already happened before," Kimimaro said, before looking at Danzo, who was already back to his feet. "Danzo!"
Despite not wanting to follow that order, the former leader of Root started to make hand seals. Or better said, his body did so without any input from his part.
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Suddenly, the earth started to shake, and large green wooden roots emerged from underground, causing the Konoha and Kumo ninjas to disperse.
"Watch out for the Wood Release!" Hiruzen said, his Adamantine Staff already smashing the nascent wooden vines into splinters. "It can bind Tailed Beast chakra!"
"It must be the reason as for why he was brought here," Tenzo said, using his own Wood Release techniques to counter Danzo's. "He must be the one tasked with the mission to subdue and catch the jinchuriki."
"Taking him out should be our main concern then!" Motoi suggested.
"While what you say is technically true, my former subordinate, your assesment couldn't be more wrong," Danzo said, as his eyes darted towards the last cloaked figure, the one still hooded. "I'm not the one who's supposed to catch the jinchuriki. She is."
That moment, the last hooded figure uncovered herself to reveal a woman wearing an elegant, almost regal white dress, with a passing ressemblance to Tsunade. Her cracked skin and black eyes betrayed her nature as a reanimation. She had red hair, neatly combed and styled into two buns, with two sealing tags hanging from said buns. There was also a small, diamond shaped purple mark on her forehead, similar to Tsunade's seal.
Nobody seemed to recognize that woman, except one person: Hiruzen Sarutobi, who looked aboslutely crestfallen.
"Mito-sama... " he said, his eyes full of sadness. "No... not you too..."
"Saru? Is that you?" Mito said, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes a little. "You look so old..."
"Indeed, I am old. Yet, due sad irony, you now look much younger than the last time I saw you," Hiruzen replied.
"It's good to see that at the very least, you're still alive. Unlike this idiot of my apprentice," Mito said, casting a glare at Danzo, who didn't even react. "No need to explain, Danzo had already told me all I need to know regarding the situation we found ourselves in."
"In that case-"
"Watch out!" Mito suddenly said, her eyes open wide in shock. "Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Mito threw her hands forward, and and three chakcra chains shot from her, one from each of her palms, and another from her chest, phasing through her clothes without destroying them. The chains quickly wrapped themselves around the necks of Naruto, Killer B and Fu. The moment the chains touched Naruto, his golden chakra cloak vanished. Fu and Killer B tried to call the power of their Tailed Beasts, but found they were unable to.
"What the hell!?" Fu said, as she tried to remove the chakra chain from her neck.
"I can't access number eight's chakra, this ain't cool! This redheaded lady is making me look like a fool!" Killer B protested, as he tried to cut the chains with one of his blades.
"They're an Uzumaki secret jutsu!" Naruto said, struggling to get free as well. He was able to break free from Karin's chains, but these ones were way sturdier. "They can bind chakra just as good as- ACK!"
Mito gave a mighty pull, dragging the three helpless jinchuriki towards her.
"And it's done!" Kimimaro said. "Cover Mito while she takes the jinchuriki away!"
"And you think we're going to let you?" Tenzo replied, as he started to make several hand seals. "Wood Release: Laughing Monk Jutsu!"
Three hands made of wood emerged from the ground below, and wrapped their fingers wound Mito's chains in an iron grip, stoping the Uzumaki reanimation from going any further, and allowing Naruto, Fu and B a small respite. They were, however, still unable to access their powers.
"The chains! Destroy those chains!" Tenzo called.
The Kumo and Konoha ninjas quickly went to do what Tenzo had called, while the reanimations and two Oto ninja quickly prevented them from doing so, forcing the jinchuriki's esocrts to engage them in combat.
Kabuto then rushed towards Tenzo's wooden vines, his hands glowing as he readied his Chakra Scalpel to cut them down. However, before he could get any closer, he was stopped by Hayate, whose own chakra blade parried Kabuto's scalpel.
"As long as we're here and we can fight, you won't take Naruto, Fu or B away from this island," Hayate said, locking eyes with the undead silver haired ninja.
"You don't get it, do you? You already lost!" Kabuto said, as he delivered a strike with his other hand, forcing Hayate to step back. "Akatsuki knows the existence of this island and how to locate it, no matter how much it moves! There's no safe place for the jinchuriki to go!"
"It doesn't matter!" Yugao said, as she joined the fight with a katana thrust, relieving some pressure from Hayate, forcing Kabuto to deal with her as well. "We will protect them no matter what!"
"You can't even protect yourselves!" Kabuto replied, as he was slowly driven away from the main battle by Yugao and Hayate.
Meanwhile, Choza decided it was his time to intervene. He brought his hands together as he began to mold chakra.
"Butterfly Mode!" a pair of chakra wings that looked like those of a butterfly appeared on the redhead's back, as he started to lose weight. "It seems that for this fight, we can't afford to go for anything less than our very best! Butterfly Bullet Bomb!"
Choza clenched his hand into a fist, which was quickly surrounded by a fiery shroud of blue chakra, while dashing forward towards Mito Uzumaki, still trying to pull her chains from Yamato's wooden bindings. Danzo, however, wasn't going to let him. He made several hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
Danzo slammed his hands on the ground, erecting a large wall of solid stone between Choza and Mito. However, the Akimichi was far from fazed.
"A little wall isn't going to stop THIS!"
Choza brought his chakra-charged fist forward, completely obliterating the wall Danzo had erected, and producing a powerful gust of wind that blew away the chunks of rock and earth in pretty much all directions. The shockwave of the hit managed to hit Mito, but not with enough force to make her undo her chakra chains.
However, Choza's attack did manage to open a clear path to Mito, a path that Hiruzen was able to use. Displaying an incredible speed for a man his age, Hiruzen rushed forward, unsealed a Fuma Shuriken, and threw it forward while making several hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!" the lone Fuma Shuriken were now a dozen. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
Hiruzen exhaled a massive stream of fire in the direction of the shuriken, coating them in a cloak of flames, while also burning the wooden Danzo had created. Mito, however, refused to let go of the jinchuriki, as she started to make hand seals of her own.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Mito exhaled a truly massive cone of water towards the incoming shuriken, not only dousing the fires, but the power of the water stream pushed them aside.
"Give up, Hiruzen. No matter how strong you are, you are not a match for sensei," Danzo said, as he traded blows with Choza.
Hiruzen, however, smirked, and made more hand seals. "You always had an habit of underestimating me, Danzo. Earth Release: Earth Crushing Jaws!"
Hiruzen slammed a single palm into the ground, and under Mito's chains, a dragon made of solid rock emerged, its jaws closing around the chains, snapping them instantly, causing them to dissolve into nothingness. The moment that happened, the jinchuriki could feel the block on their powers wasn't there anymore. Naruto and Fu activated their chakra cloak and armor, respectively, while Killer B generated several tentacles from his back, wrapping a tentacle around the waist of each of his fellow jinchuriki, and using other three to spring himself back.
"The jinchuriki are free! Protect them! Make sure the woman with the chains nor the man with the Sharingan and Wood Release get close to them!" Motoi said.
"No! Let us fight!" Naruto insisted. "We're the strongest here! We have the best chances at beating them!"
"Mito, make sure they don't escape!" Kimimaro ordered.
Mito had no choice but to obey. She made several hand seals. "Sealing Art: Rift between Heaven and Earth!"
Mito slammed her hand into the ground, generating a circular sealing array that expanded outwards several hundred meters in a matter of seconds. Then, the sealing array started to glow, generating a chakra dome, leaving everybody trapped inside of it.
"WHOA!" Naruto said in shock, as he gawked at the gigantic shield around them. "Just... how powerful is that woman?"
"That's Mito Uzumaki, brat," Kurama chimed in. "The First Hokage's Wife, and my first jinchuriki. She might not be as strong as her husband, but she's not somebody to be underestimated. A master of both fuinjutsu and elemental ninjutsu. "
A scowl developed on Naruto's face. "Of course. I should have expected that she would be among those revived by Orochimaru."
"Wait..." the fox said, sounding uneasy. "Don't you feel...?"
"You, the kid named Naruto," Mito said, noticing Naruto in his Kurama Chakra Cloak. "Given that you possess half the Nine Tails' power, I'm going to assume that Kushina-chan is dead."
"Yes. She died the day I was born," Naruto told Mito. "She was my mother."
"I see," Mito said, as she directed her gaze down, looking crestfallen. "Makes sense. Only an Uzumaki can hold the power of the Nine Tails. I see you attained some degree of mastery over its power."
"I did. And his name is Kurama, by the way. He isn't an 'it'," Naruto punctualized.
"What? The fox has a name?" the Uzumaki woman asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Anyway, that's not important. The important part is for you to defeat me. Only then you'll be able to undo my barrier jutsu and escape this place. However, it won't be easy. Orochimaru revived me because I have the right skillset to deal with you."
"Not to sound arrogant, lady, but between Fu, B and me, there's no way you can-WHOA!"
Naruto was taken aback when he was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of power, and the next second, Mito burst into golden light, her body shrouded in a chakra cloak similar to Naruto, only with a more orange hue rather than a yellow one.
"I don't know how, but Akatsuki has bound my body with the half of the Nine Tails in their possession," Mito explained. "There's a black nail made of a material I don't know jabbed in the back of my neck. I sense that's what binds the fox's power to this body. Remove it, and beating me will be much easier."
"B, I think you should go all out here. This woman was already serious trouble before she revealed her full power," Gyuki adviced.
"I got it, Number Eight, I think it's time to throw around our weight!" Killer B rapped, as he started to grow into his Tailed Beast form. As he transformed, he noticed the barrier Mito had erected, and an idea crossed the rapper's mind. "Hmmm... that barrier looks rather steadfast. Wonder if it can survive one of my blasts!"
Once he transformed fully, Killer B opened his jaws and started to gather chakra inside a sphere for a Tailed Beast Ball. Unfortunately, this wasn't unnoticed by the enemy. Danzo, who was fighting Choza, disengaged the Akimichi and moved to stop Killer B.
"I'm afraid I won't let you do that," Danzo said, as he started making hand seals. "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
Danzo summoned a huge wooden dragon that quickly wrapped itself around Killer B's huge form, its jaws clamping around his mouth, aborting the Tailed Beast Ball, and leaving him completely immobilized.
"Don't worry, sensei! I'll save you!" Fu said, as her six wings appeared on her back, and quickly flew towards the immobilized Tailed Beast. Her hands quickly morphed into giant blades shaped like the pincers of a stag beetle. "Time to cut some bad weeds!"
"Jinchuriki of the Seven Tails, watch out!" Mito warned her, as she cast a hand upwards.
Multiple chains shot into Fu's direction, forcing the Taki kunoichi to change the course of her flight in order to dodge them.
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shiiiiiiit!" Fu yelled, as she tried to dodge the chains as best as she could, while deflecting those she couldn't with her organic blades, a situation that was already familiar for the young woman. "Man, I'm getting flashbacks to the Chunin Exams!"
"I'll take care of her!" Naruto said, as he pulled out his Wind Blade, generating a blade of white chakra as he channeled his own. He noticed the blade was longer and shone birghter than he usually did. "Heh, I can't wait how strong this thing is when I use Tailed Beast Chakra to fuel it!"
Unfortunately for Naruto, Mito still had another hand that she aimed at him, shooting more chains, forcing the blond to parry the chains with his wind blade, while jumping back. He bit his thumb, and made several hand seals.
"Okay, I think we are going to need additional help," Naruto said, before slamming his palm into the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
There was a huge burst of smoke, and once the ensuing cloud dispelled, Naruto was sitting at the top of a green skinned toad with a pair of huge swords at his back.
"Gamahiro! See that woman over there with a glowing chakra aura similar to mine?" Naruto asked, pointing at Mito. "Help me take her down!"
"You got it, Naruto!" Gamahiro said, as he unsheathed both of his katanas, and leaped towards Mito. He brought one of his katanas down, but the Uzumaki reanimation was able to dodge the blow.
"You're a toad summoner too?" Mito asked. "I guess you were trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin, weren't you?"
"Right on the money," Naruto replied. "He's my adoptive dad. Oh, I just realized! Since Tsunade is my adotpive mom, that makes you my adoptive great-grandma!"
"I wish you didn't tell me that. Now you're making me feel even worse, knowing that not only I'm fighting a fellow clan member, but the son of my beloved granddaughter," Mito sorrowfully said.
"...oops. Sorry," Naruto sheepishly apologized, before his determined expression returned. "Though it's any consolation, you won't be able to harm either me nor my friends. I'll make sure of that."
As Naruto continued to fight Mito, Fu was finally free and started to cut the wooden roots keeping Killer B prisoner. Danzo tried to get in the way, but Tenzo and the Third Hokage got him busy. Kimimaro, who was fighting Choza, noticed this, and realized that something needed to be done. That moment, Tayuya landed besides him.
"Hey, great leader, this shit ain't working!" the redhead said. "What are we going to do? Orochimaru-sama is going to skin us alive if we return empty handed!"
"That's why such thing won't happen," Kimimaro stated. "Tayuya, let's use the level three cursed form. We'll need it to fight enemies of this caliber."
Orochimaru had been able to improve his cursed seals to the point that their users could unlock another transformation. It increased the user's powers even further than the first two levels combined did, but it also put a huge strain on the body and had a moderate risk of causing a fatal organic failure. However, the two last original living members of the Sound Five knew it was a gamble they needed to take.
A dark purple aura surrounded their bodies as they started to mutate even further. Tayuya's body started to elongate in an unnatural manner, while her legs merged into a single limb, with the appearance of a tail that seemed to form part her lower body. Multiple legs started to grow to her sides, giving her the appearance of a giant centipede with the upper half of a human body instead of a head. Tayuya's arms also grew longer, splitting into two, with the upper pair of arms ended in long bone blades, and the lower pair ended in long hands.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro started to grow in size as well, his muscles swelling as spiked bone plates started to form around his body, forming a natural armor. His head lost its humanoid shape, and gained a reptilian appearance, with a pair of twisted horns growing from his temples, and two curved fangs coming from his lower jaw.
"Oh yes, this shit feels incredible!" Tayuya said, basking in her newfound power. "To think that I've been afraid of using this power!"
"Let this be a lesson to never doubt Orochimaru-sama's power," Kimimaro said, as his eyes laid on Choza, Tenzo and the Third Hokage. "Now, time to teach said lesson to our enemies! Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
Kimimaro slammed his hands onto the ground, and a field of bone blades burst from underground, in the direction of the three Konoha ninjas. Hiruzen and Tenzo jumped aside, but Choza instead decided to hold his ground. The moment several bone blades burst from underground ready to impale him, he reared his fist back, and delivered another devastating punch, shattering the bone blades before they could even reach him.
"Is this all you have-ACK!"
"Dance of the Clematis: Flower!"
In less than a second, despite his hulking form, Kimimaro was able to cross the distance between him and the Akimichi Clan Head, and impale him with a giant drill made of bone. Choza opened his eyes wide in shock, before life left his body.
"CHOZA!" Hiruzen yelled, as he quckly rushed towards Kimimaro, wielding the adamantine staff.
Hiruzen engaged Kimimaro in a close combat duel, the last member of the Kaguya Clan trying to impale the old Hokage with his bone blades, but Hiruzen was able to parry and dodge them expertly despite his advanced age. And while he did manage to land a few good hits, none of them managed to break Kimimaro's bone plates, no matter how much anger he used to power his strikes.
"Not even the Adamantine Staff is making a crack! The bones he generates outside of his body may be more fragile, but that armor is as sturdy as the hardest of steels!" Hiruzen angrily thought, as the desire to make Choza's killer pay ate him from the inside. "No... I must fight with a calm mind. I can't fight just to avenge a fallen comrade. The jinchuriki... we have to protect them!"
However, Hiruzen's concetration was disrupted by the sound of a flute. The same flute Tayuya used to put them under a genjutsu. And indeed, upon looking at the direction the music was coming from, he saw the redhead, now in the form of some sort of human/centipete hybrid with long arms ending in claws, playing the flute while she used her many bladed legs to cut down the wooden vines Tenzo was using to attack her.
"Tenzo, fall back!" Hiruzen said, as he jumped back while sending a pulse through his chakra network in order to disrupt it. "Do not let her put you under that genjutsu!"
Too late. Hiruzen saw in horror how Tenzo fell to his knees, unable to do anything as the music trapped him inside a illusionary hellscape. Tayuya was ready to impale him with several of her bladed limbs.
"NO!" Hiruzen said, as he tossed the Adamantine staff at Tayuya, hoping to hit her in time.
But much to his horror, Kimimaro jumped in, and kicked the staff away before it could reach the mutated Oto kunoichi. Tayuya then stabbed Tenzo multiple times, putting an end to his life.
"Hey old man, get out of the way! Killer B is ready to slay!" the voice of Killer B in his Tailed Beast form boomed. Hiruzen turned around, and saw that Fu had finally released the Kumo jinchuriki from its wooden bindings, who was charging forward.
"Do your worst, B-san," Hiruzen said, as he moved to the side, in order to leave the eight tailed behemoth much needed space.
Killer B then sent all his tentacles to smash the two mutated Oto ninjas, who dodged them the best way they could. Kimimaro jumped from side to side, and while Tayuya couldn't jump in her new form, she was able to quickly crawl away from the giant limbs trying to crush her.
"You think you can evade me as long as you aren't still?" Killer B rapped. "You need something more than that to counter my skill!"
The two Oto ninjas seemed to forget that Killer B also had two arms on top of his eight tentacles, and closing a hand into a fist, he slammed it into the ground. He missed, but the shockwave he created was so big, Kimimaro and Kaguya were sent into the air, where they were unable to avoid the tentacles from wrapping around their bodies, leaving them immboilized.
"Gotcha!" he cheered.
"You got shit!" Tayuya screamed back, as she sank some of her bladed limbs onto the tentacle's flesh, while Kimimaro sprouted multiple bone spikes from his body.
Despite the piercing pain, Killer B managed to keep a hold of them.
"You know how to cause pain, but not enough to make me strain!" Killer B said, as he flung Kimimaro and Tayuya into the air. "Now prepare to meet your end, your punishment for attacking my friends! TAILED BEAST BALL!"
Killer B quickly charged a Tailed Beast Ball inside his mouth, before swallowing it, and releasing it in the form of a destructive wave of chakra. The wave engulfed Kimimaro and Tayuya, who were reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds. The wave still had enough power and momentum to smash ito the barrier Mito had created, albeit it was unable to crack a hole in it.
"The barrier... we need to destroy that barrier..." Hiruzen thought, as he looked back. He could see that Naruto and Gamahiro were fighting against Danzo, who had summoned his Baku, while Fu and some of the Kumo ninjas were dealing with Mito, who had created several Shadow Clones to assist her. "B-san, I know how we can undo that barrier in order to let you, Naruto-kun and Fu-san to escape! But in order to do so, you have to distract Mito-sama!"
"Distract the golden lady. Consider it done," Killer B said, as he shrank, turning back to his human form. "Maybe if we focused on her first we would have won."
Killer B unseathed the seven swords strapped to his back, tossed them into the air, and grabbed them with his arms, legs and mouth, much to Hiruzen's astonishment.
Meanwhile, thanks to Naruto and Gamahiro's teammwork, the ninja and the giant toad managed to cause enough harm to Danzo's Baku in order to dispel it. Unfortunately, Gamahiro didn't notice how the real Mito had slipped out of the fight with Fu and the other ninjas, and was sneaking towards him.
"Sealing Art: Unsummoning Jutsu!"
"What...?" was all Gamahiro could say, as a circular sealing pattern appeared around him, followed by the green toad disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"Gamahiro!" Naruto shouted.
Before Mito could engage Naruto, Killer B intruded into the fight, then rushed towards Mito, leaped into the air, and let out a loud "Wheeeeeeeeeee!"
Mito's attention was naturally drawn to the incoming attacker, and jumped back in order to avoid the swords that were raining upon her. Fu, having noticed Mito getting away from her, realized where the real one was, and locked onto her once again. She tried to capitalize on Mito's predicament, and tried to gore her with a mantis balde she had turned one of her arms into, but Mito generated a blade of water in order to parry it.
"Damn, this old lady is good!" Fu said, as she pushed against Mito, but the Uzumaki woman held her ground.
"Did nobody tell you that calling a lady old is extremely disrespectful?" Mito replied, sounding genuinely offended.
"Eh, I'm somebody who tells things like they are?" Fu said with a shrug, before turning her other arm into a scorpion claw, and tried to slash her.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Fu was reminded that Danzo was still part of the fight when several shuriken shrouded in wind chakra flew towards her. Fu was forced to jump back and fly into the air in order to dodge them. Meanwhile, B engaged Mito again, the two of them trading blows in close combat, though it was quite obvious that Killer B had the upper hand. Meanwhile, Naruto was preparing his next move: With the help of several chakra arms, Naruto was holding a large dark purple spinning sphere of chakra on his hands.
"B-sensei, watch out!" Naruto said, as he rushed towards Mito. Killer B saw his fellow jinchuriki and nodded, before jumping away, leaving Naruto a clear way for his fellow Uzumaki. "I'm sorry, Mito-baachan! Tailed Beast Ball!"
Mito jumped back, and made a hand seal. More chakra chains shot from every part of her body, but rather than sending them towards her enemies, she wrapped them around her own body, forming a metallic protective cocoon, just in time before Naruto slammed his improvised attack against her. The ensuing explosion shattered the chains instantly, and Mito was hurled backwards, bouncing on her back several times. Her body was wounded, but not enough to stop her from continuing the fight, and said wounds were quickly healing.
However, Naruto had already done what Hiruzen wanted. He landed besides Mito, while a pair of his Shadow Clones freed Fu from having to fight Danzo. Hiruzen pulled a paper tag and slammed it onto Mito's back.
"Sealing Art: Void Touch Seal!"
The seal on Mito's back started to glow with a blue light, before it was consumed in a flash of blue fire. The next second, the chakra dome that kept them imprisoned started to flicker, before it broke down into chakra bits that disappeared into nothingness.
"Yes! Good job, Old Man Hokage!" Naruto praised.
"Unfortunately, it won't be long until Mito-sama is able to cast another barrier, so you should take advantage of that and flee this island!" the Third Hokage said, as Mito quickly jumped to her feet, and prepared to attack. "I'll stay here and hold these zombies back as long as I can!"
"What!? No way we can let you do that!" Naruto protested. "If we fight together, we can win! I know it! We have three jinchuriki on our side!"
"Naruto-kun, this battle right now is meaningless!" Hiruzen said, as he parried with the Adamantine Staff a flurry of chains Mito shot at him. "Akatsuki knows of this place, meaning that keeping you three on this island is no longer a safe option! You need to go back to the continent and head to the Ninja Alliance HQ! Now it's the safest place for you three!"
"But you will die if we leave you here!" Naruto protested.
"Don't underestimate me, Naruto-kun. I have been the Hokage with the longest reign for a reason," Hiruzen said, smirking at the blond. "Now go! Choza and Tenzo died protecting you! Don't make their sacrifices meaningless!"
"But-"
"Brat, he's right," Kurama interrupted. Naruto clenched his fists in anger. "I know you don't like it, but deep down, you know what you have to do."
"What are you doing, standing there like an idiot? Go!" Hiruzen yelled.
This seemed to snap Naruto from his trance, as he directed his eyes towards Fu. "Fu! We're leaving! Take me and B-sensei out of this place!"
"What about the others!?" Fu shouted back.
"We will be fine! The most important thing is to ensure that Akatsuki doesn't get their hands on you!" Hiruzen shouted, as his hands flew through hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
Hiruzen exhaled a massive stream of fire towards Mito. The Uzumaki woman's answer came in the form of an equally impressive water jutsu. However, despite the elemental advantage, it was unable to push Hiruzen's fire jutsu back, ending in a tie.
Fu nodded, and dived towards the ground, grabbing Naruto and Killer B's hands with her own, and flying into the sky, using the clouds as a cover. Hiruzen sighed in relief upon seeing that the jinchuriki were safe for the time being.
"'We will be fine'?" Danzo repeated, as he finished destroying Hiruzen's Shadow Clones. "You shouldn't have lied to the jinchuriki like that, Hiruzen."
"I didn't lie to them. We will be fine as long as we manage to keep them safe," Hiruzen replied, as he started to make hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!" A large dragon head made of mud formed in front of Hiruzen, and fired a barrage of mud projectiles at Mito, while the Third Hokage made more hand seals. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullets!"
Hiruzen exhaled a huge stream of fire, igniting the mud balls and turning them into fire blasts. Mito replied in the form of more hand seals.
"Sealing Art: Iron Curtain!"
Mito stomped her foot down, generating a line of sealing symbols in front of her. The seals started to glow, producing a purple wall of chakra that easily blocked Hiruzen's combo attack.
"Okuninushi!"
Hiruzen saw his former friend, now undead puppet, dashing towards him, wielding kunai shrouded in wind chakra, with four negative colored afterimages following after him. Danzo delivered a series of quick swipes that were replicated by his afterimages with the same amount of power. Hiruzen blocked each of them with the Adamantine Staff, but was unable to stop Danzo from putting him on the defensive.
"You know you can't win, Hiruzen. Why aren't you trying to escape with your life?" Danzo asked, as he continued his assault. "Mito-sensei and I are reanimations. No matter how long we fight, we will never get tired. Not only are you a regular human, but you're long past your prime. This fight won't last long."
"I have my reasons to fight!" Hiruzen replied, managing to smack one of Danzo's kunai out of his hand, and deliver a strike to his head. Unfortunately, one of the afterimages parried it.
And while they fought, Mito's hands formed new hand seals for her next move.
"Wind Release: Wind Scythe!"
Mito released multiple crescent-shaped winds of blade, forcing Hiruzen to disengage Danzo in order to jump back and dodge them. A couple of them managed to graze his armor, drawing some blood. His feet skidded when they touched land again, threatening to make him lose balance.
"Danzo is right, Saru," Mito added. "Don't waste your life fighting us."
"It's not a waste," Hiruzen replied, breathing heavily. "Every second I fight you, is another second you aren't chasing after Naruto-kun and the others. Because I know my former pupil, and he won't pass this chance to kill me, especially if he can use the wife of one of my senseis and my former friend as tools of his will," Hiruzen boldly declared, before making several one handed seals. "Lightning Release: Lightning Staff!"
The Adamantine Staff started to crackle with electricity as it was covered in lightning. Hiruzen then dashed forward, ready to face Mito was again, who braced for the attack. Danzo, however, wasn't going to be left out and made several hand seals.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
More wooden vines were summoned, getting in the way between the Third Hokage and Mito. However, much to their surprise, Sarutobi stopped his dash, and threw the staff forward. The spinning staff shattered the wooden barrier thanks to its lightning coat, and when Mito was about to parry it, changed course and rotated around her, before smacking her in the back of her head.
"Sorry, Mito-sama, but it needs to be done," Enma apologized from within the staff.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen changed course and headed towards Danzo. He pulled out a sealing scroll, and unsealed a large broadsword while making several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Burning Edge!"
Mustering his remaining strength, Hiruzen delivered several swipes at Danzo with his flaming sword. Danzo used his wind-enhanced kunai to parry some while dodging others, but was reminded that Wind was a poor choice to counter Fire.
"Tell me, Danzo, given how you trained your Root ninjas to be mere puppets... how does it feel to be one?" Hiruzen asked, as he pressed his attack. "And I'm not just talking about now, but the knowledge that you have been an Akatsuki pawn all this time!"
"Does my response matter? Does anything I say will help or change anything that happened before?" Danzo replied, as he pulled several shuriken and threw them at his former friend.
Said shuriken were easily parried, with Hiruzen even grabbing a couple for himself. "Yes, yes it does! You ended up being an Akatsuki pawn because you stole Shisui Uchiha's eye, which was then stolen from you by Obito! Not only the Uchiha Insurrection could have been averted, but it was thanks to you that Akatsuki got so many Tailed Beasts!"
"I don't regret taking Shisui's eye. It was too dangerous. Who can assure us that Shisui won't use his mind control powers against Konoha?" Danzo replied.
"Shisui has been an exemplary ninja, one whose loyaltly to Konoha has never been questioned other than by you!" Hiruzen replied, destroying one of Danzo's afterimages with a fiery swipe. "You always say that everything you do is for Konoha's sake, but all your actions have done nothing but weaken it!"
"Perhaps that might be true, but I'm not the only one whose faults weakened Konoha," Danzo replied. "If you didn't hesitate to kill Orochimaru when you had the chance, there wouldn't be reanimations laying waste through the Elemental Nations."
"Orochimaru is a longtime mistake I plan to recitify!" Hiruzen replied.
"No, you won't," Danzo countered.
"Sealing Art: Unsummoning Jutsu!"
That moment, Hiruzen felt Enma, who was keeping Mito busy, disappear, the jutsu that summoned to the island undone.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Danzo capitalized that second of distraction, and lunged forward, delivering an horizontal swipe at Hiruzen with his wind-enhanced kunai. Hiruzen managed to jump back, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack completely, allowing Danzo to slash his chest, drawing even more blood. Hiruzen then felt his ankles being wrapped by a chain, making him lose his balance and fall facefirst into the ground. Mito then retracted the chain, pulling Hiruzen towards her, while more chains bound his body, leaving him completely immobile.
Hiruzen looked upwards, and saw Mito ready to strike. However, her brown eyes were now pure white, and her mouth was curved into an extremely evil smirk.
"Sweet dreams, Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru's voice came from Mito's mouth, as Mito raised her fist, which shone with a golden light.
Mito then brought the fist down, impaling Hiruzen's chest. Hiruzen's mouth opened, spitting mouthful of blood as he tried to say something, but all the sounds that came from it were unintelligible gargles. That moment, Mito's eyes returned to normal. She blinked a couple times, before realizing what had happened.
"Saru? Saru! No, nooooooooo!" Mito wailed, as she hugged the corpse of who once had been the star student of her husband and her brother in law.
Danzo watched the scene with a solemn expression, as a torrent of emotions boiled inside his artificial body.
"Fighting to the very end. Such a dignified death. Even in that, you proved to be my better. Farewell, my old friend."
…
In a nearby forest, Yugao and Hayate had finished fighting Kabuto. The pair of swordsmen managed to pin Kabuto to the ground by stabbing several chakra-infused kunai on several parts of his body.
"Great. This guy won't go anywhere," Yugao said, smiling at her victory.
"Indeed. Now let's go and help-" Hayate agreed, before covering a cough with his mouth. "We should go back and help the others."
Kabuto, however, rather than being angry, was smugly smiling.
"Your victory today means nothing. You have only seen a fraction of the power Orochimaru-sama commands!" Kabuto said.
Then, much to the couple's shock, the kunai pinning him to the ground were swatted away by an invisible force which also brought Kabuto to his feet. A coffin appeared behind him, and Kabuto was pushed inside it, before the lid slammed against the coffin, finally sinking into the ground.
…
Mountain Graveyard, that very moment
"So, you failed again," Obito said, exasperated. "I'm starting to regret making this deal more and more."
"I haven't failed, Obito-kun," Orochimaru said. "The plan is going as I have foreseen it."
"The jinchuriki escaped! All three of them!" Obito snapped, piercing Orochimaru with an angry glare. "What's good any foresight if in the end the result is failure!?"
"The result isn't failure. The jinchuriki might have escaped, but right now, based on the position of the Turtle Island, they only have one place to go. A place away from all the battlegrounds, and thus a place where they won't be able to ask for help," Orochimaru explained.
"If we send forces to that zone, the Alliance will catch wind of what's going on!" Obito replied.
"We won't have to send anybody, because I already have an agent in place," Orochimari said, smirking confidently. "One of my best reanimations, who happen to have no equal when it comes to jinchuriki hunting."
"Very well then," Obito said. "But keep in mind, this will be your last chance. No more screw ups."
"No more screw ups," Orochimaru echoed.
…
Land of Fire
Among the forests near the northern coast of the Land of Fire, a figure stood still. He could be mistaken for a statue, but said figure was very much alive. Alive in a roundabout way, that's it.
"The time has come," a voice said inside the figure's head. He opened his eyes, which were full of anger and frustration at his current predicament. "Now go, and capture the three jinchuriki. Let nothing and no one stop you."
The figure, unable to resist, obeyed the commands, broke his quietude, and leaped forward.
Hashirama Senju was on the hunt.
….
Cocoon Chamber, Undisclosed Location
During the past few days, the second cocoon the eight White Zetsu clones have been feeding and taking care of began pulsating with increased frequency. They remembered that such thing happened when Rin's cocoon was ready to open, so despite their excitement, they kept their emotions in restrain and continued taking care of the cocoon as best as they could.
This cocoon, however, started to do something Rin's cocoon didn't do: as the pulsations hasted their pace, it began to glow white with chakra. The faster the pulsations became, the more it glowed. And the last day, it glowed so brightly, it was almost like looking directly into the sun.
And lastly, it opened.
It wasn't like Rin's cocoon, though, which merely split into four parts almost like a flower blooming, spilling its green colored, sap-like liquid contents and the body of the newly restored girl. This cocoon exploded with chakra, instantly vaporizing the Zetsu clones attached to it, flooding the galleries with a burning light, killing everybody unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast.
And when the light finally faded, the chamber was completely empty, except for one man, standing alone in a puddle of green sap. The man had fair skin, a slim but muscular body, and long, wild black hair that fell down his back.
For a few moments, the man didn't move. He then moved his hand towards his face, tentatively flexing his fingers, before curling them into a fist, and throwing a few punches into the air.
Then, that moment, Zetsu, the original one, emerged from the ground. He looked at the newcomer, and smiled.
"I see that you're finally back," the white half said.
"You took a bit longer than we expected," the black half added.
At first, the newcomer didn't seem to notice Zetsu. Then, without even turning at the plant creature, he asked: "How long has it been?"
"Sixteen years, boss," Black Zetsu replied. "A lot of things happened, as you can imagine. We're close to reach our goal, but there's still much to be done."
"I can imagine that. First, bring me some clothes. And fill me in about what had happened since the last time we spoke," the man ordered.
"As you order... Madara-sama," the white half replied.
Author's Note: First of all, sorry if the battle wasn't that good. Writting a battle with so many fighters on both sides it's rather challenging (hence why I cheated a little by having Yugao and Hayate push Kabuto away from the main kerfuffle). And even if it was kind of obvious, congratulations to all the people who guessed the mysterious woman was Mito. In fact, it couldn't be Kushina since I myself stated that neither she nor Minato were going to appear again after they helped Naruto defeat Kurama.
For those of you who complained about the lack of deaths in the war so far... yeah, hope you guys are satisfied. And trust me, these are far from the only deaths you are going to see now. As I said before, we're heading now into the endgame, and the stakes will be raised appropriatedly.
You know, I always regretted not killing Hiruzen during the Uchiha Insurrection, given that I hardly did anything with him. I realized a little too late that Hiruzen is a character that doesn't have much to do if he isn¡t wearing the Hokage Hat. And indeed, I heard other authors that had him step down as Hokage but keep him alive also had similar problems with him, and end up killing him anyway. Oh well, at the very least, I hope his last battle as well as his death were memorable moments.
There's also Tenzo and Choza dying as well. As for Tenzo, I always struggled what to do with him (even as the sensei of Hanabi and the Senju twins) and he wasn't very high in my top favorite character list, so off he goes. As for Choza, so like Shikamaru and Ino, Choji can also take his place as the head of his Clan at the same time as his teammates, as well as to show that, contrary to what Jiraiya believed, the island wasn't devoid of danger.
But I'm guess that what many of you found the most interesting is the last scene of the chapter. Yes, Madara has finally woke up, and is ready to wreak havoc.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Naruto, Fu, and Killer B had escaped the island, but they got out of the frying pan to land into the fire, as a full-powered Hashirama is ready to hunt them down. How the jinchuriki trio will do against the most powerful ninja who ever lived? You'll find soon enough. In the meantime, don't fogert to leave your thoughs on this chapter in a review. Reviews make me really, really, really happy!