Son of the Sannin

by Ander Arias

Naruto lost his parents the night of his birth due to the Kyubi escaping, but fortunately Jiraiya and Tsunade are willing to take care of him in their place. Watch how his life unfolds while being raised by the Sannin, and how such actions will change not only Naruto's life, but the lives of those around him. Slight AU

121. Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage

Author's Note: Here comes one of the battles I've been dying to write the most. I hope you guys like it:

---

Chapter 121:

Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage

or

Gotta Catch'em All (Tailed Beasts)!

Land of Fire, Coastline

After a couple hours of flying above the ocean, Fu and her two passengers managed to finally land on solid ground. Fu looked exhausted, B appeared neutral, but Naruto was impatient to make their next move.

"Come on, we should get moving," Naruto said, as he started walking. "We need to find friends or allies, and soon. Akatsuki still has their eye on us."

"Ouch..." Fu said, as she rubbed her shoulders. "Could we rest for a bit? I'm kind of sore after flying while carrying you guys for so long."

There was a moment of silence. Naruto was going to protest, but looked at B, who nodded.

"The girl made quite an effort, let her catch her breath. We need some rest as well, or the next fight may result in our death," Killer B sagely advised.

Even if he was unhappy, Naruto decided to agree with Killer B. Fu let out a sigh of relief, and plopped on the ground.

"I swear I don't need much time. Just a few minutes," Fu promised.

While Fu sat down, Naruto and Killer B remained standing. Nobody said anything for the next few minutes, nor did anything. B usually tried to take advantage of moments of clamness to think and write up some new lyrics, but all he did was stand there, arms crossed.

Naruto was the same. He was thinking in all the people that died on that island: Choji's dad, Choza; Tenzo, who was Hagane, Kaida and Hanabi's Jonin-sensei. More than likely the Third Hokage, Naruto's parents' Jonin-sensei and father figure. He hoped that Yugao and Hayate were okay, he didn't want to see another of his friends losing his parents. And then, another grim thought crossed the blond's mind.

"Just... how many people have died already in the war?" Naruto wondered. "Are all my friends all right? Their families? There's no way they're going to come out of this unscathed."

"There's no point in dwelling on that, Naruto," Kurama interceded. "The only thing that matters is to end this war as swiftly as possible. You can mourn their deaths later."

Naruto clenched his fist, angry at the fox's lack of tact. But deep down, he knew Kurama was right. There was nothing he could do for those who had died, but he could do something for those who were still alive.

"Number Nine has a point. What are we going to do now?" Killer B asked, apparently hearing what Kurama said. "You guys still need more training, but in our current situation I can't see how."

"The Old Man Hokage told us to go to the Allied Ninja Forces HQ. That we'd be safe there," Naruto said.

"Great! Let's go there then!" Fu happily said. She then looked around, as if trying to ascertain her surroundings. "Though, do any of you know where it is? Because I wasn't told."

"Me neither," Naruto said, looking at Killer B, who just shrugged and shook his head. "Just great."

"Well..." Fu began, fidgeting with her index fingers. "We obviously can't wander around until we find it, so... maybe we should try to find one of the Allied Divisions? We can be safe with them."

"I don't like the idea of putting a target on their backs with our presence, but right now that's our better option," Naruto said.

"We still have the problem that we don't know where to find them," Killer B interceded. "And while we wander, we might be found by those Akatsuki scum."

"Sage Mode might of be of help here. With the sensing ability that provides, it will be easy to track them. Large concentrations of people means large concentrations of chakra, something we should be able to pick up," Naruto said.

"Uh, question!" Chomei chimed in. "Why didn't you guys use Sage Mode when we were fighting those zombies?"

Naruto turned around, looking at Fu –or better said, Fu's stomach– in shock. "Wait... we can use your chakra cloaks and Sage Mode in unison?"

"Of course you can. Why did you thought it wasn't possible?" Kurama replied.

"I... nevermind," Naruto said, dropping his head in defeat, wondering how many lives he could have saved if it wasn't for his stupidity.

"Don't feel bad, Naruto," Gyuki interceded. "The island was lost the moment Akatsuki learned of its location. Sage Mode would have changed very little there."

Naruto seriously doubted it, but decided not to argue with the ox-octopus. He couldn't afford to waste anymore time. It was time to end this war. Naruto sat down, and started to gather nature energy. Upon seeing him, Fu did so as well. After a few minutes, orange marks appeared around Naruto's eyes, while butterfly-shaped green marks appeared around Fu's. The more nature energy they gathered, the more their sensing ability expanded.

At first, all they could sense were animals and wildlife. When they finally started to sense human chakra in numerous quantity, they could tell they were just townspeople. However, as they continued their efforts, they finally noticed a large concentration of chakra of great intensity.

"I sensed something!" Fu excitedly said.

"Me too! To the southwest!" Naruto said, as he stood up and looked into that direction.

"In fact, I swore I sensed the chakras of Lee, Tenten and Neji!" Fu added, as she jumped to her feet.

"I sensed Kaida, Hagane and Sasuke as well. It must be the division they've been assigned to," Naruto said.

"That's good enough to me, let's go!" Fu excitedly said.

"Wait a second," Naruto said, as he bit his thumb, and started to make hand seals.

"What are you doing?" Fu asked. "Do you plan to summon something?"

"Yes, a messenger toad," Naruto replied. "I'm going to send a message to dad in order to tell him what happened and what's going on. Hopefully we'll get some help soon."

Naruto then slammed his hand into the ground, producing a burst of smoke as the summoning took place.

…

Konoha, Hyuga Estate

Quiet.

That's how Hinata described everything around her. Not only her home, which was devoid of more than two thirds of its usual clansmen because of the war, leaving only the children, the elderly, and the service staff –which they now had too little to do given how few Hyugas were currently in the Estate–, but the village as well.

Konoha felt like a ghost town, while her home felt like an abandoned mansion, even if it had still a couple dozen people on it. Which only helped to make the Hyuga Clan Head even antsier. Yet here she was, forced to stay confined in her home.

The moment Hinata returned, the first thing she wanted to do was fly straight into the nearest battlefield, presumably the one where her sister or her mother where fighting right now.

"Have you lost your mind? You need to rest right now!"

"The fight against Toneri left you drained. You need time to rest before you can head back to the front lines."

"The First Hokage went back to fight in the war immediately after his fight with Madara Uchiha, and we all know how that ended. He wasn't invincible, and neither are you."

From her clansmen, to the Moon Acolytes, to the non-Hyuga ninjas that had accompained her like Sai and Shisui, all of them told her that going right now to the war was suicide. And as much as it pained her to admit it, they were right. Some of her clansmen scanned her with their Byakugan, and warned her that her chakra levels, while not as low as to present a risk for her health, they were too low for an actual battle.

"If I'm being forced to stay here, I better try to enjoy it," the young woman said in resignation, as she lazily finished eating her yakisoba. Then again, after spending so many weeks on ration bars, homecooked food was a gift for her taste buds.

That moment, one of the cooks entered the dinning area. He appeared to be pleased that Hinata's dish was pretty much empty.

"I hope the food is to your liking, Hinata-sama," the cook replied.

"It was as excellent as the last time I ate here, Ichikawa-san," Hinata replied.

"I'm glad to hear it," the chef said, nodding in satisfaction. "We all know you're itching to leave for battle once again, so I hope that our food not only will help you recover your strength as quick as possible, but it will make your stay here pleasant."

"Yes. I can feel my chakra slowly getting back to its usual levels," Hinata said. "The clan's medics told me that I will be ready to go after a day or two of rest and proper food."

The chef nodded once again, before he snapped his fingers. "While eating proper nutritive food is important, I believe you also deserve a little whim given how hard you've been fighting for us, Hinata-sama."

A maid then entered the dinning area carrying a tray full of cinnamon buns. The Hyuga Clan Head's mouth began to water upon witnessing such a heavenly sight. She didn't even remember when was the last time she enjoyed her favorite meal.

As she bit the sweet, sweet pastry, she did remember when it was: Naruto bought her some as an apology gift for the way he behaved with her after the failed Roshi mission. She couldn't help but wonder how her boyfriend was doing now.

"Just wait a little longer, Naruto-kun," Hinata thought. "We will be fighting together soon."

…

Madara Uchiha's Secret Lair

Madara was finishing putting up his old armor. After getting cleaned up and dressed, the former Uchiha Clan Head asked his minion about what had happened during the decades he had been hibernating inside the cocoon.

Zetsu told Madara all what Obito had done, such as the recuritment of Nagato, the creation of Akatsuki, how they managed to capture six and a half Tailed Beasts, but the other two and a half were proving to be exceptionally resistant to capture, to the point of losing half their members trying to do so. Then came the war against all five Great Ninja Villages, plus some of the lesser ones. Things...weren't going that well for Akatsuki.

But that was in the past. Now that Madara had completed his rejuvenation process, things would go better now.

"What about the test subject?" Madara asked.

"She's meeting our initial expectations. She has access to Wood Release as expected, her chakra pools expanded considerably, and her healing factor surpasses that of Hashirama himself," the black half began to explain.

"We also believe she inherited Hashirama's affinity for nature energy as well, given that she has mastered Sage Mode in a rather short amount of time," the white half added.

"Interesting... hearing her progress, it makes me want to find an opponent to fight as soon as possible," Madara said, as he adjusted his old vambraces.

"Are you sure you don't want the new armor, boss?" the black half of Zetsu asked. "That museum piece won't take you very far."

"Save it for later. This armor was how people remember me, and I want to appear the same way as in their memories," Madara replied. He then closed his eyes, and expanding his senses. Madara has always been a pretty powerful sensor, but thanks to Hashirama's cells spliced into his, he could now cover the area of a small country in mere seconds. It didn't take him long to find a large mass of chakra, a huge concentration of human beings.

"Boss? Should we go and catch the remaining jinchuriki?" the white half suggested.

"There will be time for that. First, I want to test my new powers," Madara replied, opening his eyes and turning around. "I sense an army not too far away from here. They will be the perfect opponent to test my might. Take me there."

"As you say, boss," the white half agreed.

…

Meanwhile, in the northern part of the Land of Fire, after a few minutes of rest, Naruto, Fu and Killer B began their journey towards the front lines. Naruto and Killer B were jumping from one tree branch to another, while Fu flew a few meters above them. At the pace they were currently going, they hoped that they would reach the Allied Division a little before sunset. That was, of course, if there were no unforeseen events that would delay them.

Too bad Akatsuki loved throwing unforeseen events at its enemies.

As they advanced, Naruto's necklace started to glow with a greenish-white light, something it hasn't done in quite some time.

"Naruto?" Fu asked. "What's with your necklace?"

"I don't know," Naruto replied, as he looked at the jewel hanging from his neck with worry. "This necklace is imbued with the First Hokage's chakra. It only glows when-"

"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"

The earth started to shake, and gigantic wooden vines emerged from down below, tearing down the already existing trees, the area being flooded in green. Fu yelped and flew even higher into the sky, while Naruto and Killer B were forced to jump onto the emerging vines. Naruto pulled his Wind Blade, while B unsheathed two of his short swords, and started to cut all the vines that were coming at them.

After a couple minutes, the jutsu finally stopped, even if the new gigantic forest remained. Naruto quickly activated his Kurama Chakra Cloak, while Fu was covered in the carapace plates of the Chomei Chakra armor. Killer B was surrounded by a cloak of bright maroon chakra that gave him horns and eight tails.

"Another enemy that can use Wood Release. Will these nasty surprises ever cease?" the jinchuriki of the Eight Tails asked as he looked around.

"The scale of this jutsu is nothing I've seen before," Naruto said in awe. "Neither Tenzo, Kaida or even Rin in Sage Mode can-"

"Naruto! B-sensei! Over there!" Fu pointed to a large vine arc.

The two male jinchuriki saw a man standing on the large wooden vine: a tan skinned man with long, straight dark brown hair. He was wearing an antiquated red armor, as well as Konoha forehead protector tied around his head. His cracked skin and black eyes betrayed his nature as a reanimation. And while that wasn't a face Naruto and Fu had ever seen in person, they both had seen it for days in the Hokage Monument.

The three jinchuriki immediately felt their Tailed Beasts squirm in both anger and fear.

"Oh shit, not him!" Gyuku cursed.

"This is going to suck so much..." Chomei whined.

"Of course Akatsuki would resurrect that son of a-" Kurama began, his words being muffled by growls of anger.

"Naruto, isn't that guy...?" Fu began.

"Yes," Naruto said, as he locked eyes with the man in question. "The First Hokage. No wonder my necklace is glowing."

"The First Hokage, hm? He looks to be pretty strong. This looks like it's going to be a pretty intense fight, am I wrong?" Killer B asked.

"'Intense' doesn't even begin to describe it, B," Gyuki said, sounding a little panicked. "That man was the one who fought and subdued me without breaking a sweat, before selling me to Kumo."

"Me too," Chomei stated. "Hashirama has the power to bind us to his will, and we can't do anything about it."

"So that was their plan all along, huh?" Kurama said in realization. "The initial attack on the island was just a ruse to put us in the open, where Hashirama would capture us."

"Well, First Hokage or not, no such thing is going to happen! All of us are as a strong as a Kage, plus it's three on one! We can beat him!" Naruto said energically.

"Watch out, he's preparing another jutsu!" Fu warned, upon noticing Hashirama making hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Hashirama slammed one hand onto the vine he was standing on, but rather than a cloud of smoke followed by some sort of summoned animal, Hashirama summoned a coffin with the Uzumaki symbol on it. The slid fell forward, and its occupant stepped outside, who turned out to be Mito Uzumaki.

"Oh shit, not those two together!" Kurama cursed.

Naruto gulped, sharing the fox's concerns and fear. He had experienced firsthand what Mito was capable of on her own, he didn't want to imagine what it would be to fight her alongisde a godlike ninja like Hashirama.

"Mito-chan?" Hashirama asked, taken aback. "You too?"

"Hashirama," Mito said, looking at her husband. "I see that you're also a slave of this aberration of a jutsu."

"The saddest part is, this isn't even the first time," Hashirama said, letting out a weary sigh. "Though, I don't see my brother nor that Minato guy this time around."

Minato. That name sounded familiar to Mito, but she couldn't put her finger when did she hear it.

"At the very least we haven't been summoned in Konoha this time around," Hashirama said. "I would have hated if more innocent lives were on my conscience."

"Too bad I can't say the same," Mito sadly replied. "Our puppetmaster forced me to end Saru's life."

"You... you were forced to kill Saru!? No!" Hashirama cried, his eyes opening wide, before they narrowed in anger, as his fist clenched. "I don't know how, but I'll make sure that traitorous bastard pays for this."

"The best we can do is to make sure we don't cause anymore damage. And to do so, we need to help our enemies to seal us away," Mito replied, before looking at the jinchuriki in front of them.

Hashirama looked at Naruto, Fu and Killer B. "Those three appear to be our targets. Do you know them?"

"The jinchuriki of the Seven, Eight, and Nine Tails, respectively," Mito explained. "Orochimaru, the man who summoned us, is part of a criminal organization that seeks to collect all Tailed Beasts. Those three are the ones who still remain. Albeit the jinchuriki of the Nine Tails only has half the beast within his body, the other half being bound to me once again."

"If they're jinchuriki, no wonder Orochimaru saved us for them. Wait... I'm sensing a familiar chakra... is he wearing the necklace I gave Tsuna?" Hashirama said. He then took a step forward, and cupped his hands around his mouth to increase his voice. "Hey, jinchuriki of the Nine Tails! Are you a Konoha ninja?"

"My name's Naruto!" Naruto replied. "And yeah, I'm from Konoha!"

"Nice to meet you, Naruto! My name's Hashirama, albeit you probably know who I am, given that I was told I'm on history textbooks now!" Hashirama said. "Anyway, if you hope to defeat me, you need to find this man called Shisui Uchiha! Only he can break the control the caster of the jutsu has over our bodies!"

"I'm afraid Shisui is a bit busy right now!" Naruto replied.

"Oh. Well, that's very unfortunate. You aren't going to like what's coming next, then. Wood Clone Jutsu!" Four Wood Clones emerged from Hashirama, and placed themselves around him. Both the original and the clones started to make hand seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction!"

"Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"

"Earth Release: Tectonic Upheaval!"

"Lightning Release: Wrath of the Thunder God!"

"Wind Release: Breath of God!"

The three jinchuriki watched in shock how Hashirama and his clones breathed a massive stream of fire, a gigantic wall of water, a storm of lightning bolts, an extremely powerful gale, and raised gigantic rocks from udnerground, meshing all of them in a single, massive elemental attack that advanced towards them, devouring everything in its way.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" a shocked Naruto asked, as he tried to come up what to do to counter such a massive combination attack.

However, Naruto didn't had to do anything, as one of Killer B's chakra tentacles wrapped around his waist, before he was thrown into the air, and much to his surprise, he was caught by Fu.

"Number Seven, time to take us to heaven!" Killer B said, extending another of his chakra tentacles towards Fu.

The Jinchuriki of Chomei grabbed it, and lifted the Kumo ninja into the air, and the three of them were able to dodge the deadly attack.

"What the hell was that, kid? You never froze mid-battle before!" Kurama chastised.

"I'm sorry, it's just... the scale of those attacks was unreal! And from all five elements!" Naruto replied, shocked. "I didn't know that the First Hokage could do that!"

"What, you thought that all Hashirama has is the Wood Release? You humans and your habit to simplify everything..." Kurama said, shaking his head. "There's a reason as for why he was called the God of Ninja, and it wasn't just because of his power and Bloodline Limit. Yes, he's a master of all five elemental ninjutsu, medical ninjutsu, genjutsu, is an expert fighter with pretty much any weapon..."

"So we have our work cut, don't we?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. And don't forget that Mito is still there!" Kurama warned.

And indeed, Naruto saw a golden-orange blur blitzing towards them. More chains shot from many parts of her body. Naruto, however, was ready to counter it. After releasing himself from Fu, he quickly pulled out a sealing scroll from his ninja tool pouch, and unsealed a Fuma shuriken, which he quickly threw in Mito's direction, before making several hand seals.

"Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"

The single shuriken became a dozen, clashing against the incoming chains, deflecting them elsewehere, while some others managed to hit Mito herself, which stopped her momentum.

"Good one, Naruto. Now here comes the other bastard!" Kurama warned

And indeed, like Kurama said, Hashirama was leaping at them, holding a huge broadsword between his hands, almost as big as Zabuza's Executioner Blade. Upon seeing him, Killer B released himself from Fu as well, and used his chakra tentacles to usheathe the rest of his swords.

"Hey Naruto, let me take a crack at this guy!" Killer B said, as he rushed towards Hashirama. "My skills with the blade will make this man cry!"

The Kumo jinchuriki engaged Hashirama in a duel of swords. Despite the size of his blade, Hashirama swung his broadsword as easily as if it was a mere tanto, making Killer B realize that he wasn't going to have the speed advantage as he imagined.

Still, the jinchuriki of the Eight Tails wasn't somebody to frighten easily, and deflected Hashirama's blows by redirect them to the sides –he knew better than trying to parry a blow from such a big weapon–, while counterattacking with the swords he was holding with the chakra tentacles, even managing to land a few slashes on the First Hokage. Unfortunately, he was uanble to make any real harm.

"You're a good swordsman, Kumo ninja," Hashirama praised. "I would have loved to test my skill against yours had we met in another life!"

"Hmmmm... my skills alone aren't leaving any mark..." Killer B mused, ignoring the First Hokage's words. "Perhaps they need a little more spark!"

When Hashirama delivered another swipe, Killer B instead decided to parry instead of deflecting, but when he did, he channeled lightning chakra through his sword. As his sword crackled with electricity, it managed to slice a clean piece of Hashirama's broadsword.

"Whoa!" Hashirama said, as he jumped back before Killer B could deliver another slash at him, and looked at his ruined blade. "Well, look at that. You're even better than I thought!"

"Of course I am, ya fool! Those who think who can compare with the great Killer B are nothing but tools!" Killer B boasted.

Taking advantage of Hashirama's surprise, Naruto ambushed him from one of his flanks, ready to strike the zombie Hokage down with his Wind Blade. However, Hashirama was still able to sense him, and parried Naruto's elemental sword with his ruined broadsword, which got another chunk sliced off. Hashirama jumped back, and Naruto tried to chase after him.

"Naruto, watch out!" Fu warned from above.

That moment, the four Wood Clones Hashirama had created surrounded Naruto and engaged him in a fight from every direction. Naruto smirked in return.

"You think you can use clones against me? ME?" Naruto asked, sounding half amused and half insulted. Without putting his Wind Blade away, he made a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Several dozen Naruto clones popped to life among bursts of smoke, quickly overwhelming the Hashirama clones. However, the clones had already fulfilled their purpose of buying the First Hokage some seconds to weave seals and use his next jutsu:

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Bloom!"

Once again, Hashirama created a dense forest out of nowhere, forcing the three jicnhuriki to back off. However, large flowers began to bloom from these new trees, and started to release large clouds of pollen. Soon, the air was saturated with the pollen, taking on a yellowish hue.

"DO NOT BREATH THAT POLLEN!" Chomei pratically screamed. "If you do, you're dead!"

And indeed, the Naruto clones that were further from the real one were unable to escape from the yellow pollen cloud, and they instantly fell on their faces, unconscious, before they all dispelled in bursts of smoke.

"Actually, that pollen isn't lethal, but puts to sleep to those who inhale it," Gyuki felt the need to correct his fellow Tailed Beast. "...but given the circumstances, it may be synonimous of death, so yeah, don't breathe it."

"That's easy for you to say! We can't fight without breathing!" Fu replied.

"Fu, you and I both know Wind jutsu! Let's try to blow the pollen away!" Naruto suggested.

"Even if you do, the flowers will just pump out more," Kurama helpfully reminded them.

"In that case, the flowers will have to go as well, if we don't want to fall prey to their smell," Killer B suggested.

"I don't think Hashirama and Mito are going to make it easy for you to do any gardening, though," Gyuki pointed out.

"Nobody said this was going to be easy, if it was it would be cheesy," Killer B replied.

"Well said!" Naruto said, as he started making hand seals. "Ready, Fu?"

"Ready!" Fu replied, her hands forming seals as well.

"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Upon finishing the sealing sequence, Naruto thrust his hands forward, casting a huge horizontal cyclone, while Fu expelled a huge wall of air from her mouth. The two wind attacks merged into a powerful hurricane, and it quickly dispersed the cloud of pollen.

"Wow..." Hashirama said in awe. "In all the times I used that jutsu, not a single person ever thought in using a Wind jutsu to dispel the pollen!"

"I don't think a normal Wind jutsu would have been enough, husband," Mito replied. "Then again, those two are jinchuriki with mastery over their Tailed Beasts, so they have enough power to counter ours. Maybe there's hope they can beat us."

The flowers, however, continued pumping more sleeping pollen into the air. However, the jinchuriki moved in order to destroy them before they could release more. Though, as Gyuki pointed out, the pair of reanimations weren't going to just stay idle and let them do it, as the pair of older ninjas quickly jumped into intercept the jinchuriki.

"I'll take care of the flowers! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto made his favorite hand seal, creating a dozen or so of clones, which began to move towards the direction of the flowers. "Fu, I'm going to need some cover!"

"You got it!" Fu said, as she made the tiger hand seal while opening her mouth, releasing a cloud of sparkly dust scales. "Hiding in the Scale Powder jutsu!"

Fu clapped her hands together, and the whole area was flooded by bright white light flooded the area, blidning Hashirama and Mito. Naruto and his clones already closed their eyes in order not avoid being blinded, while Killer B's sunglassed negated the blinding light. The light receded quickly, but that was all the time Naruto and his clones needed to destroy all the flowers with explosive notes.

Meanwhile, Killer B and Fu jumped forward, and engaged Hashirama and Mito in a close combat duel (again, in Killer B's case), pushing the two reanimations back.

"Whoa! They countered my jutsu completely!" Hashirama said in awe, albeit he also sounded rather excited. "Not even Madara was even able to do that! Jinchuriki or not, these ninjas had a very fine upbringing and training!"

"I don't know about these two, but the jinchuriki of the Nine Tails is Tsuna's adoptive son," Mito told her husband.

Hashirama gasped loudly, and a huge smile appeared in his face. "Really!? Are you really the boy Tsuna told me about the other time!? That's great! I'm so glad to meet you, boy! I'm your great-grandfather, Hashirama!"

"You are the First Hokage, I know who you are!" Naruto replied. "Plus you introduced yourself earlier!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Hashirama said, laughing awkwardly while casually parrying a few slashes from Killer B. "I can get a bit excited when I meet a new family member, and I kind of lose focus of what I'm doing!"

"Hey, cut the chatter, it's me you have to fight! Ignoring your opponent is a huge slight!" Killer B protested, as he intensified his onslaught.

"You'll have to excuse my husband, jinchuriki-san," Mito replied, as she herself ignored Fu while her body fought on her own. "He can be a bit silly sometimes. Still, try not to underestimate him, he can be a fierce warrior when he puts his mind to it."

"Not that I want to!" Hashirama added, as he briefly disengaged Killer B, and unsealed a pair of large swords, one being straight, the other with a curved edge, from the large scroll he was carrying on his back. "Much better! I prefer to fight an armed opponent when I'm armed myself!"

"I thought you said you didn't want to fight seriously!" Fu protested.

"I don't want to, but if I'm forced to, I might as well enjoy it!" Hashirama said, as his duel against the Kumo jinchuriki became more even.

"Like I said, my husband can be a little silly," Mito replied.

"Unfortunately, what comes next isn't going to be as silly!" Hashirama warned, as his two swords started to glow with chakra. "Strong Sword: Helmet Splitter!"

Hashirama projected through his blades swords of chakra that were twice as long and thick as the swords he was holding, and brought one of them down in a vertical downward slash. Rather than parrying it, Killer B wisely dodged to the side, with the sword releasing a gigantic crescent chakra blast that cut a giant furrow in the ground, while also shredding all the trees that were caught in its path.

Taking advantage of his building momentum, Hashirama made another cut with his other sword, this time horizontal, while also releasing another crescent shaped blast of chakra. However, rather than trying to dodge it this time, Naruto generated four giant arms of golden chakra, and attempted to stop the slash himself. After struggling with the chakra blast for a bit, the golden arms managed to shatter it into thousands od blue sparks that quickly disappeared.

"Whoa...!" Hashirama said in awe. "Adopted or not, you're indeed Tsuna's kid!"

"Thank you. Though, if you liked that, you're going to like this even more," Naruto said, before orange markings appeared around his eyes. He raised an arm, which generated other arms around it, and used them to create a spinning shuriken of wind chakra. "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"

Naruto threw the deadly disc forward, the air being filled with a loud whirring noise. Hashirama quickly started to make hand seals, ready to counter Naruto's jutsu.

"Wood Release: Wood Golem jutsu!"

Hashirama slammed his hands into the ground, and a golem emerged from it. First the head, then the upper body, then the arms, lower body, and lastly the legs. The moment the arms materialized, one of the hands quickly went to grab the Rasenshuriken. However, to the first Hokage's surprise, the chakra shuriken exploded into a sphere of destructive razor winds, shredding the hand of the golem to splinters, as well as almost destroying its whole arm.

"So, Sage Mode already, Naruto?" Fu asked, noticing the marks around Naruto's eyes.

"I think this enemy deserves it," Naruto replied.

"In that case, don't mind me if I join you!" Fu said, making a hand seal.

Back in the coast Fu had landed with her fellow jinchuriki, there were two Shadow Clones of Fu and a single Shadow Clone of Naruto gathering nature energy, before one of the former disappeared, just like the Shadow Clone of Naruto a few moments before. Despite the distance, it only took a few seconds for the nature energy to tranfer to Fu's body, the Sage Mode manifesting in the form of green marks with the shape of butterfly wings.

While they normally couldn't create many clones if they had clones gathering nature energy, their limit had expanded now that they had access to the full power of their Tailed Beasts.

"You kids are Sages too?" Mito said in amazement.

"The newer generations are such a wonder, aren't they, Mito-chan?" Hashirama replied.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, that display of power is going to force me to go all out as well," Mito replied, before her orange-golden aura exploded in a torrent of light, shapeless at first, but taking the form of a transluctent Nine Tailed Fox as it grew up, until it reached its full size, with Mito floating inside its head.

The colossal fox-shaped chakra construct let out a roar, as it stomped forward, and tried to smash Naruto with one of its paws. Naruto, however, was fast enough to shot an arm of chakra towards the airborne Fu, who pulled him out of danger.

"What the hell is that!?" Naruto asked.

"It seems that Mito has complete control over my other half," Kurama noted. "And without you unable to do the same... this complicates things."

"If you can keep that pesky Hashirama out of our way, B and myself will deal with that woman!" Gyuku offered, as Killer B started to transform into his Tailed Best form.

"Leave it to us!" Fu replied. "That Golem looks all big and terrifying, but Naruto showed it's far from invincible!"

That moment, the Nine Tails avatar opened its jaws and started to form a Tailed Beast Ball between them. However, Killer B quickly tackled the orange-golden beast, forcing the incomplete attack into the sky, when it safely detonated. As Killer B pushed Mito away, Naruto and Fu prepared to fight Hashirama and his one armed golem.

"No wonder Orochimaru send me to catch you three. I can't imagine any other ninja being able to carry such task," the First Hokage said. "However, given the abilities I saw you display, I have faith that you can overcome anything I throw at you!"

"Man, it's amazing how he has more faith in us beating him than ourselves..." Fu said with a nervous chuckle.

A tremor shook the land. Naruto looked to his right, and saw Killer B and Mito duking it out in their Tailed Beast forms, neither of them gaining an advantage over the others. Then, the blond realized that, while Mito was able to nullify summons, she was now busy battling Killer B, so maybe he could call for some help while dealing with Hashirama. He bit his thumb and made several hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Naruto slammed his hand into the ground, which was followed by a huge burst of smoke. When the smoke dispelled, he was standing at the top of Gamabunta's head.

"Hey there, kid," Gamabunta said. "Gamahiro told me about the pickle you got yourself in. Something about Mito Uzumaki coming back from the death? Anyway, glad to see you're still alive and kickin'."

"Thanks, boss," Naruto replied. "Though, I'm not out of danger yet. Could you lend me a hand against that guy?"

Gamabunta narrowed his eyes at the enemy. "Wait... isn't that guy... isn't that guy the First Hokage?"

"Yeah, he was-"

"You summoned me to fight the freakin' First Hokage!? Did you lost your mind, kid!?" Gamabunta hollered. "First your pops expects me to fight the goddamn Nine Tails, and now you summon me to fight the God of Ninja? What's with you crazy blondes!?"

"Calm down, boss! Fu and I are going to be the ones fighting Hashirama. I need you to provide some support. Mostly by distracting that Wood Golem," Naruto said, pointing out at the green giant. "I mean, it's lacking an arm, so how hard can it be?"

"The golem just ate a tree, and the missing arm it's starting to grow back," Fu pointed out, as she hovered over Naruto.

And indeed, there were several wiggling vines that were slowly growing from the stump where the arm used to be.

"It ate... a tree?" Gamabunta repeated.

"In that case, you should try to beat it as fast as you can, before it grows back," Naruto dryly adviced.

"There's never a dull moment with you, huh?" Gamabunta said in resignation, as he unsheathed his short sword.

"Oh, so you're a Toad Summoner?" Hashirama asked, curious. "Given that you were adopted by Tsuna, I thought you'd be a Slug Summoner."

"Slugs are more for medics. And son of Tsunade or not, I absolutely suck at medical ninjutsu, other than doing a very basic version of the Mystical Palm jutsu," Naruto explained. "I got the Toad Contract from my dad."

"I've never fought against a Toad Summoner, but I heard that Toads don't let anybody sign their contract. Then again, you, as well as your companions, showed me that you're far from an ordinary ninja. Let's go then!"

With surprising nimbleness, Gamabunta dashed forward, and delivered a diagonal downward strike with his short sword on the golem, which was caught by its remaining hand. As the giant toad and the wooden construct struggled against each other. Hashirama choose that moment to leap at Naruto, his two swords ready to cut him to pieces.

Naruto smirked, and leaped to meet him mid air. Naruto's Wind Blade clashed against Hashirama's swords, struggling on a blade lock for a bit, before Naruto's superior senjutsu-enhanced strength drove the First Hokage back. As Hashirama was pushed back, Fu flew to inetrcept him, as she unsealed something from a large scroll.

"Hey, you aren't the only one able to use Wood Release!" Fu said, as much to Hashirama's shock, she unsealed her weapon of choice, a gigantic log. "Meet Arbor-chan!"

Hashirama didn't have time to react as Fu slammed the giant log against him, sending him flying towards a cluster of trees, producing a booming noise and raising a cloud of smoke as the undead Hokage hit the ground. The force of the impact managed to topple several nearby trees.

"Nice hit!" Naruto said, giving his fellow jinchuriki a thumbs up.

"Thanks! It was one of my best moves," Fu said, casually resting the giant piece of wood on her shoulder. "Do you think that was enough to bring him down?"

Suddenly, three large serpentine dragons made of wood emerged from the place Hashirama landed on, with Hashirama himself riding on the head of one of them. While he had multiple wounds across his body, none of them were bad enough to incapacitate him, and they were healing at a fast pace.

"I guess that's our answer," Fu replied. "Okay, new plan, I distract him, you nab him with a Rasenshuriken?"

"He won't fall for something so simple," Naruto replied, shaking his head. "Hitting him with a Rasenshuriken might be enough, but making sure the attack lands will be trickier."

They had no more time to plan, as the three Wood Dragons were already onto them. One of them tried to trap Fu between its jaws, prompting the Taki kunoichi to swing her giant log at her. However, the dragon bit onto the log, and pulled back in order to take it from Fu's hands, the two of them struggling against the other.

"No! No! Bad tree dragon! That's not a chew toy!" Fu chastised, as she and the dragon pulled back and forth.

The moment the second dragon got close to Naruto, the jinchuriki of the Nine Tails generated two large arms of golden chakra, and used them to grab the dragon by the jaws, keeping them from closing. Even with the enhanced strength of both senjutsu and Kurama's chakra, Naruto still struggled to keep the dragons' jaw from closing. Still, he was confident he could keep them opened enough time to make his next move, and began to quickly made hand seals with his real arms.

"Wind Release: Wind Scythe!"

Naruto spread his arms in an arc, creating a crescent shaped blade of pressurized air that flew forward, cutting the Wood Dragon in half as if it was made of paper.

"Piece of cake," Naruto said, before looking to the right in order to check on Fu. Much to his surprise, the girl was still trying to get her giant log back from the Wood Dragon, and Hashirama was about to strike her from her unguarded flank now that she was distracted. "Fu, watch out!"

"Be careful, girl! I'm coming for you!" Hashirama warned as well, as he was ready to strike her down.

However, despite Fu seemingly not paying attention to the incoming danger, she generated a giant insect arm ending in three long claws from her left shoulder, just in time to parry Hashirama's blow, much to the First Hokage's surprise.

"HMPF!" Fu grunted, as she managed to finally wrestle the large piece of wood from the dragon. The moment the dragon lunged at her again, Fu slammed the log against it, blowing its head clean from the rest of its body. "Hah! That'll teach you- HEY!"

Hashirama's arm turned into a mass of wooden vines, wrapped themselves around Fu's log, yanked it from her hands and tossed it away.

"ARBOR-CHAN!" Fu screamed, before narrowing her yellow eyes at Hashirama. "You're so fucking dead!"

"Technically, I'm dead right now," Hashirama replied. "Sorry for your weapon, though. It wasn't my intention. Strong Sword: Helmet Splitter!"

Hashirama jumped from his dragon and leaped at Fu once again, ready to cut her down with her chakra-enhanced swords. Fu raised her right arm, and from her forearm she generated a large tower shield in the shape of a scarab shell just in time to parry the attack, resulting in a shockwave that shook the nearby trees, but the shield resisted the impact without cracking.

Fu then pushed Hashirama's sword aside, while her other arm morphed into a sting-shaped sword, and thurst it towards the reanimation, but parried it with his other sword. Naruto took advantage of Hashirama's predicament, and leaped at him, his Wind Blade above his head. However, Hashirama's remaining Wood Dragon intercepted Naruto, while the First Hokage continued his fight against Fu.

Then, that moment, Naruto could feel Gamabunta being unsummoned. He looked at where the giant toad had been fighting the Wood Golem, only to see the latter surrounded by an already disappearing cloud of smoke. The golem also had regenerated his lost arm, and wasting no time, stomped his way towards Naruto and Fu.

Naruto also spared a glance to where Killer B and Mito Uzumaki where duking it out in their Tailed Beast forms. So far, the fight seems to be going in Killer B's favor, but it didn't appear to end any time soon. He had to bridge some of the gap between them and their enemies.

"Even if he was a Boss Summon, guess I shouldn't have expected Gamabunta to be a match for something able to fight both the Nine Tails and Madara Uchiha's Susanoo on even terms," Naruto said in resignation. "Fu, how well are you doing against Hashirama?"

"Ehh... not very well!" Fu replied, as she blocked yet another of Hashirama's powerful sword strikes with her shield. "Can you lend me any help?"

"Not yet! Gamabunta had been defeated by the golem, and it's coming towards us!" Naruto warned his fellow jinchuriki. "I'll try to deal with the golem myself, but you have to keep Hashirama busy for a few minutes! Can you do that?"

"I'll try!" Fu replied.

"Very well then," Naruto made his favorite hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Five clones appeared around Naruto, three in front of him, and other two to his flanks.

"You know what to do," he said.

The three clones in front of him all dashed towards the incoming golem, and started to pelt him with various elemental ninjutsu attacks, as well as explosive tags. Meanwhile, the original Naruto held his Wind Blade in front of him, while the other two clones started to pour and shape chakra into it, as if Naruto was preparing a Rasenshuriken.

While Naruto dealt with the golem, Fu fought against Hashirama as best as she could. Even with the Chakra Armor and Sage Mode, he was proving to be an exceptionally tough adversary. She decided it was time to break her biggest attacks if she hoped to stand a chance alone. Her hands flew through hand seals as fast as they could.

"Sage Art: Water Release, Majestic Maelstrom!"

Fu expelled from her mouth a massive amount of water. The water took the shape of an expanding, spinning cone of liquid that flooded the entire zone. Hashirama, however, stabbed both his swords on the ground, and made more hand seals as well to prepare a defense.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Titanic Wall!"

Hashirama slammed both hands into the ground, raising a truly colossal wall of rock and earth, taller and thicker than the walls that protected Konoha. However, despite the scale of the jutsu and elemental advantage, Fu's water jutsu managed to break through the earth wall, shattering it to multiple rocks, and flooding the area around the First Hokage.

Hashirama quickly recovered his swords, and started to jumo across the floating rocks that were being carried by the current of Fu's gigantic water jutsu.

"Mostly impressive, young kunoichi!" Hashirama praised, as he raised both his swords, which started to project a giant cloak of blue chakra. "I'm sure you'll be able to withstand this! Strong Sword: Celestial Slash!"

Hashirama brought both swords down, releasing a powerful wave of chakra that cut down the mass of water, splitting it in two, while it moved towards Fu, carving a furrow as it advanced forward, sending large rocks everywhere. While Fu's mobilty would allow her to avoid the blast, the flying rocks were trickier to avoid, and in many cases she had to punch them away.

"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"

Fu saw another serpentine green dragon coming at her from below, and was too slow from stopping it from traping her between its jaws. While inside the dragon's maws, Fu turned both her arms into huge mantis blades, and used them to slice the dragon's head open from the inside, freening herself. But before she could do anything else, Hashirama was already on top of her, and delivered a flurry of powerful sword strikes that the jinchuriki parried as well as she could.

"Naruto, are you done yet!? I could use some help here!" Fu cried, as she generated yet another scarab shell shield on her forearm in order to block Hashirama's attacks.

Meanwhile, the Wood Golem had destroyed all of Naruto's clones and moved towards the original, the earth shaking with each of its heavy footsteps. The clones, however, had already bought him all the time he needed. With the help of other two clones that he already dispelled, he infused his Wind Blade with enough chakra that it had grown four times in length and three times in thickness.

"Alright, you big dumbass, time for some extreme haircut," Naruto said, as he moved his gigantic Wind Blade a little, producing a gust of air. When the golem was in range, Naruto leaped at it, while raising his Wind Blade over his head. "Sage Art: Planetary Wind Blade!"

In one swift motion, Naruto brought his Wind Blade down, releasing a giant vertical blade of wind that moved forward at an imperceptible speed. At first, nothing happened. After a second of delay, there was a huge burst of wind coming from Naruto. Then, the golem was bisected in two from head to toe, while several trees behind it exploded into clouds of shredded wood and cut leaves. The two split halves of the golem fell to one side each, before they broke down into thousands of tiny wood splinters.

"Well, Hashirama's mighty golem, defeated in a single blow," Kurama commented, as he began to sound uncomfortable. "Given that that thing fought me evenly, I don't know how to feel right now."

"It wasn't that easy, I had to put all my remaining Senjutsu chakra into that attack," Naruto mentally replied, sensing how the Sage Mode perks were disappearing, as he returned back to normal. He turned around, seeing that Fu and Hashirama stopped fighting, in order to gawk at his spectacular display of power. Emboldened by their reactions, Naruto allowed himself to smirk and gave Fu a thumbs up. "Now I'm done! Let's deal with the First Hokage already!"

However, before Naruto could join Fu, a large shadow was cast above them. Looking up, they saw it was Mito in her Nine Tails form flying through the air, being at the receiving end of one of Killer B's powerful punches, before she landed with a deafening boom on the ground, flattening several trees, and causing a small tremor. Naruto leaped back, while Fu flew high into the air.

"Everybody, stand aside! Except for you, please stay open wide!" Killer B said, as he formed a Tailed Beast Ball between his jaws. "TAILED BEAST BALL!"

The Tailed Beast Ball hit the Nine Tails chakra construct, resulting in a massive explosion, clearing a whole area of trees. When the explosion subsided, the Nine Tails chakra construct was no more, only Mito, lying face down in the middle of a crater. Still, it seemed that the Nine Tails construct had cushioned most of the blast, and she only had several minor wounds, meaning she would be back on her feet in no time.

It was then when Naruto saw the black stake lodged on the back of her neck. Not taking any chances, Naruto dashed at Mito, and send a claw made of golden chakra towards the nail. Mito's body turned golden as she called the power of the Nine Tails bound to her, but before she could use it, Naruto managed to pull the nail out of her body, and the golden chakra flickered before it finally disappeared.

And for good measure, Naruto also placed a couple explosive notes on her back, which he made sure to detonate now that she no longer had the power of the Nine Tails to protect her.

"Quickly, somebody seal her, now!" Naruto urged.

"I'm on it!"

Fu quickly dived towards the lying Mito, and started to wrap her body in chakra thread that produced through her fingers, unless she was completely encased inside a cocoon. She caught the cocoon and carried it towards Naruto, so the blond could place several chakra suppresing seals on it. Fu then created a Shadow Clone which took the cocoon and took it away. Naruto let out a sigh of relief now that one of their enemies was down for the count, even if it was the weaker of the two.

"Yes, one down, another one to go!" Naruto cheered.

"Yeah! Hashirama's strong as hell, but without Mito, between the three of them we can beat him for sure!" Fu agreed, her mood renewed.

Killer B began to shrink back into his human form –while still wearing his Gyuki Chakra Cloak–, given that it was pointless to use that form against a powerful Wood Release user like Hashirama, plus there were no more giant enemies, and quickly rejoined his fellow jinchuriki.

"Yeah, the three of us kick plenty of ass! At the end we will be the one standing, you will have your back on the grass! Oh yeah!" Killer B rapped.

"Yes, you truly have an amazing power," Hashirama praised. "I met a few jinchuriki in my lifetime, but none of them had the level of dominion over their Tailed Beasts' power as you three display. How did you do manage to bind such creatures to your will?"

"That's the thing old man, we didn't," Naruto replied. "We befriended them. The reason we have access to most of their power is because they allow us to."

Killer B then grew uncharacteristically serious. "There was a time were I saw Number Eight as nothing more than a mindless creature, a savage beast. But upon learning more about him, we got along and became good friends, at least."

"Yeah, I myself also saw Chomei as something I needed to keep prisoner inside me, instead of a living being that lives and feels," Fu replied. "But now I know that there's more to Tailed Beasts that meets the eye!"

"Chomei...?" Hashirama asked.

"Oh, that's her name," Fu clarified.

"...they have names?" Hashirama asked, his shock growing with each passing second.

"Naruto," Kurama said. "Please switch with me. I want to talk with this... individual."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were no longer golden-orange, but blood red with slitted pupils.

"Hey, you asshole," Kurama's voice said from Naruto's mouth.

Hashirama was taken aback by the sudden change of timbre and tone of the blond's voice. Despite his legendary denseness, it didn't take long for him to realize what was going on.

"You're... the Nine Tails..." he said almost in a whisper.

Kurama scowled. "Yes. And the name's Kurama, by the way. And yes, we Tailed Beasts have names. Why is the idea so alien to you? So you could pretend we aren't living beings?" he asked, not expecting Hashirama to answer that question. "After you captured me and my siblings and forced us into human hosts, we Tailed Beasts have been treated as nothing but two things: weapons to use and threats to contain. Being kept inside the darkness of the pocket dimensions created by your seals. Away from the world, and from each other. Often experiencing such torture that it would drive the mind of the strongest human to insanity if they had to experience it for a single day, much less several decades.

"Naruto, however, didn't look at me as a monster, despite the fact that I killed many of his kinsmen, his parents included," Kurama continued. "He said he didn't want to see me suffering anymore, he didn't want me to continue holding onto my hatred for your race. He trusted me, despite the fact that I gave him no reason to trust me at all. He was willing to make the first step, to put himself in a vulnerable position, to risk his life, so he could improve the relationship between humans and Tailed Beasts."

"I..." Hashirama began. "I don't know what to say..."

"Saying that you're sorry for the way you treated Tailed Beasts could be a good start," Fu softly suggested.

Hashirama, however, shook his head, and clenched his fists. "No. I can't be sorry for the way I acted. You Tailed Beasts are way too dangerous, too powerful. And people like Madara could put you under their control with amazing ease. Had I not defeated Madara during our final battle... I don't want to think what he would have done to the village with you as his thrall. I couldn't allow for such thing to happen again. What I was supposed to do?"

"How about talking to me, at the very least!? Maybe we could have reach an agreement, make an alliance! Do you think I have any lost love for Madara after he made me his slave?" Kurama exploded. "You and Madara were WAY more powerful than the average ninja! How would you feel if somebody decided that you're too powerful and a danger to the world, and hence not only you, but all your loved ones need to die for the sake of the rest of the world!?"

"I... no, I couldn't have taken such a risk..." Hashirama said.

"At the very least, you could have tried," Kurama snarled. He then relinquished the control back to Naruto, as his eyes returned to the previous orange color, and the slittled pupils became dots again.

Hashirama was going to say something, when he felt that his body was about to move again on his own.

"I'm afraid we'll have to end this discussion here, since my puppetmaster wants me to continue the fight," Hashirama said, as he sealed his swords back into the scroll when he carried all his weapons. "Right now, I'm going to go all out. However, I do have hopes that fellow Sages like you two youngsters will be able to weather what I'm about to unleash on you."

"Yeah, we aren't going to- hey, wait a minute, what do you mean by fellow Sages?" Naruto asked, as a very cold chill ran down his spine. The blond had a very, very bad feeling about what's going to happen next.

Hashirama clapped his hands together, as his body surged with energy and power, a gust of wind blowing from where he was standing on. His eyes turned yellow as green markings similar to those Rin carried appeared under his eyes and on his forehead. "Sage Mode!"

Naruto's mouth hung open in shock. "HE HAS SAGE MODE TOO!?" The blond desperatedly screamed. "AND HE CAN ENTER SAGE MODE INSTANTLY!?

"Again, God of Ninja, kid," Kurama said. "Still, I have faith you can kick his ass."

Hashirama made a hand seal. "I suggest you not to stay still if you want to avoid my next attack! Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates!"

Suddenly, a massive red torii gate fell from above where the three jinchuriki where standing, burying itself into the ground while releasing a wave of mud and earth. It would have trapped the three jinchuriki with them if they weren't fast enough to dodge it. However, it didn't stop there, as more gates continued to fall from the sky, prompting the three jinchuriki to split apart and move in different directions.

"Thank goodness we're fast enough to make it miss! Just what kind of jutsu is this?" Killer B asked.

"Kurama?" Naruto asked.

"No idea. I never saw Hashirama use this jutsu before," Kurama replied, shrugging a little. "Again, God of Ninja. Don't lower your guard for a second."

"Don't forget about Hashirama! He can still attack you while the gates drop from above!" Gyuki reminded the human ninjas.

And indeed, that moment, Killer B saw Hashirama above him, who had thrown a Fuma Shuriken.

"Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"

The giant shuriken turned into several dozens of them, and a rain of sharp steel fell upon the Kumo ninja, ready to tear him apart. Unimpressed, Killer B cast his hands towards Hashirama, placing his chakra tentacles around them. He quickly formed a dark purple shpere of chakra.

"Tailed Beast Ball!"

The Kumo ninja fired the ball upwards, exploding upon touching a shuriken. The explosion engulfed the rest of the shuriken, nullifying Hashirama's attack.

"Ha! If you want to beat the great Killer B you'll need-WHOA!" Killer B was interrupted as he was almost buried under the weight of a falling torii gate. "That jutsu made me interrupt one of my rhymes! I'm going to make sure that man pays for such a henious crime!"

"B, focus on the battle, dammit!" Gyuki exasperatedly said.

Meanwhile, Fu tried to fly closer to Hashirama while expertly dodging the falling torii gates, as a plan formed inside her head.

"The gates don't seem to fall near him. If I get close to him, I'll be safe from those gates!" Fu thought in realization.

"But... being close to him may be what Hashirama is planning," Chomei advised Fu.

"I doubt he's able to match the combination of my physical strength and your power," Fu retorted.

"Okay but... try not to underestimate him, oka?" Chomei pleaded.

When she was getting closer, Fu turned her forearms into blades shaped like the jaws of a stag beetle, and tried to gore him from behind. Hashirama, however, managed to dodge the attack despite not seeing it. Fu continued delivering blade swings, while Hashirama dodged them while making hand seals.

"The hell how is he- oh, right, Sage Mode grants him sensing abilities," Fu reminded herself.

"Hashirama was able to sense chakra without Sage Mode, though," Chomei told her jinchuriki. "Now brace yourself!"

"Wood Release: Adamtine Fist!"

Suddenly, a gigantic arm made of wood burst from under Fu, and punched her into the sky, the green haired girl letting out a scream as she was sent flying.

"Fu!" Naruto shouted, witnessing his fellow jinchuriki in troubles, as he rushed to his aid.

Hashirama, however, wasn't done, and weaved more hand seals.

"Wood Release: Triple Wood Dragon Jutsu!"

Three more Wood Dragons appeared, one going towards Naruto, the other towards Killer B, and the last one going upwards, following Fu. However, the Taki kunoichi managed to regain her balance mid air, and glaring at the dragon coming at her, prepared her counterattack. She dived down footfirst as she started to spin while her body was covered in a cloak of wind chakra.

"Sage Art: Takigakure Typhoon Kick!"

Fu spun with such speed, she became a living tornado. When the Wood Dragon reached her, it tried to clamp its jaws above her, but all it managed was to get itself shredded to tiny splinters. Consuming the last remnants of nature energy in her body, Fu's brutal attack plowed through the serpentine dragon until it reached Hashirama, who jumped back at the very last second. When Fu hit the ground, she opened a large crater while producing a shockwave strong enough to throw Hashirama off balance for a few seconds.

A few seconds was all Killer B needed in order to capitalize on such opportunity, and rushed towards Hashirama while dodging the still falling torii gates.

"You have something big to pay for!" Killer B said as he spun around his feet, slamming all his eight chakra tails into Hashirama, sending him flying. "This is for making me stop that rhyme before! Naruto, Fu, make him suffer some more, leave him all sore!"

Naruto and Fu nodded, and both made the same hand seal, dispelling the last clone they had gathering nature energy, reactivating their Sage Modes. Fu started to make hand seals, while Naruto, with the aid of several chakra arms, began to prepare his most powerful jutsu.

"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"

"Sage Art: Water Release: Majestic Malestrom!"

Naruto threw the Rasenshuriken at Hashirama, while Fu expelled a massive torrent of water in the form of a spiraling vortex. The two attacks converged into a gigantic shuriken of wind and water. As Hashirama saw the terrifying attack coming towards him, he prepared a desperate defense.

"Wood Release: Protection of the Forest!"

Multiple wooden roots emerged from Hashirama's own body, and grew and twisted around his body, forming a protective shell. However, said shell was obliterated when the double elemental shuriken touched him and exploded into a sphere of razor sharp winds and severing water blades. However, thw protective roots did save him from being caught in the epicenter of the attack, and was instead violently pushed towards the ground by the ever expanding sphere of water and wind. The undead First Hokage was slammed against the ground with such force, he opened a gigantic crater upon impact, raising a wave of mud and earth everywhere, as well as sending large rocks and earth chunks into the air.

Both Naruto and Fu, and then Killer B, waited expectantly. They had noticed that the Gracious Deity Gates had stopped, but they weren't sure if that attack was enough to put Hashirama down long enough for him to be sealed. They could sense his chakra was still quite strong.

"Hey, that was quite impressive, you guys! Though, we should seal him fast, and not let him catch us by surprise," Killer B suggested.

"Agreed. He may be strong enough to resist sealing, but not to continue fighting us," Fu said.

Naruto nodded, and three jinchuriki quickly ran towards Hashirama's crater, ready to put an end to such a long and tiresome fight.

Unfortunately for them, the First Hokage still had one last card to play.

"Sage Art: Wood Release, Veritable Thousand-Armed Kan'on!"

As Naruto and Fu felt a gigantic spike of chakra, the earth started to shake as the colossal wooden figure of a Buddha, with his hands clasped in a prayer. Thousands of arms grew from statue's back in countless concentric rows, their shape ressembling of the tail of a peacock. Once it raised to its full height, not only did the statue dwarf the trees around them, but it was large enough to make Tailed Beasts seem like mere housepets.

The titanic wooden construct began to move, dragging itself forward, crushing everything under its massive weight. The three jinchuriki once again stared at the titanic wooden construct with their eyes wide and mouths agape, their brains trying to process the sheer size and scale. If anything, it helped them understand to what extend Hashirama was the God of Ninjas.

"Just...what...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Naruto screamed again.

"Naruto, remember when I told you about Hashirama and Madara's last duel, and you asked me how did Hashirama defeated Madara despite the latter had me fighting for him? Well, that's how," Kurama explained, sounding infuriatingly non-chalant. "The Thousand-Armed Kan'on is Hashirama's most powerful jutsu, the ultimate combination of Wood Release and Senjutsu. The good news are that, if you're able to beat that, Hashirama won't have anything else to throw at you. The bad news, though, is that no one has been able to beat it so far."

"What the hell is with this guy? Just when you think that you have him, he reveals a new trick to screw you up," Naruto complained. Deep down, he was starting to develop some gruding respect for Madara Uchiha and his desire to fight and surpass such an inexplicably powerful individual.

"Don't tell me that you plan to give up," Kurama asked, almost in a mocking tone.

"I didn't come so far by giving up," Naruto replied. His sight rested on Fu and Killer B to his side, who looked as shocked as he, and even a little terrified. "And that thing might have never been beaten, but there's always a first time for everything."

Kurama nodded and smirked. "Well said! Come on guys, just fight a little longer, you're almost there!"

"I think I should get back to my Tailed Beast Form, our chances will be better if I transform," Killer B said.

"Don't bother. That thing is designed to fight Tailed Beasts and similar sized opponents. It will have a harder time hitting you the smaller you are," Kurama countered.

"I agree with Kurama. Let's test that thing to see how strong it is. Once we gauged its power, we will come up with a strategy," Naruto said.

"Sure thing, bro!" Killer B agreed.

"You got it!" Fu replied.

While Naruto and Killer B rushed towards the gigantic Kan'on running, Fu flew upwards towards its head. She could see that Hashirama was standing on top of it, but the First Hokage didn't make any attempt at attacking them himself. And soon, he was was going to show why he didn't need to. The arms sprouting from the statue's back quickly shot forward, their hands curled into fists, ready to pummel all three jinchuriki into fine paste.

"WHOA!" Naruto shouted, as he dodged a giant wooden fist, just to almost be crushed by another one.

"This kind of attack is insane! If they hit me, I'll be nothing more than a bloody stain!" Killer B said, as he also tried to dodge as well as he could. "Hey, Number Nine, you already fought this thing before, what can we do to bring it down to the floor?"

"Didn't you hear me? This thing has never been defeated!" Kurama insisted. "The one time I fought against it, I was wearing an armor made of Madara Uchiha's Perfect Susanoo, and I'm still sore from the beating I took!"

"Then what can we do? We can't just be on the defensive forever!" Naruto replied.

"Guys!" Fu said from above, as she flew down to them, dodging the giant fists coming at her. "I've been trying to attack Hashirama directly, but those giant fists won't let me get close! Did you guys got any luck?"

"We can't attack either unless the storm of giant punches become more bearable!" Naruto replied.

"Hey, Number Nine, you already know how to do the Tailed Beast Ball! Perhaps two of them at once will be enough to make that big boy fall!" Killer B suggested.

"Not a bad idea, but I can't do any jutsu if these rain of giant punches doesn't stop anytime soon!" Naruto protested.

"Also, we're being pushed back," Gyuki interceded. "It won't be long before Hashirama corners us against a cliff or something."

"You're right, but, how are we going to stop that thing from moving?" Chomei asked.

That moment, Fu smirked. "Leave that to me."

And before anybody could say anything else, Fu rocketed forward, flying close to the ground, nimbly dodging the giant fists that crashed around her with the force of meteors.

"What is that girl planning to do?" Kurama asked. "Is she trying to stop the Kan'on on her own?"

"If I know Fu... yeah, that's exactly what she's trying to do," Naruto said in resignation.

"All she's going to accomplish is getting herself killed." Gyuki dryly said.

"Perhaps not. If she reaches the construct's base, the fists won't be able to reach such a place," Killer B said.

"Figured you'd agree with her. It takes one to know one," Gyuki said in exasperation.

However, B proved to be right. Upon closing enough distance between herself and the construct, the wooden arms were unable to reach her. The Thousand Arms were like siege weapons, designed to bring down large targets. You couldn't use a catapult or a ballista to target an opponent at blank range.

Upon finally reaching the Kan'on, Fu placed her hands on the wooden platform the Buddha wooden statue was resting upon, dug her feet on the ground, and pushed in the opposite direction.

"Come on, come oooooooooooooon!" Fu shouted, as she mustered every last bit of her strength. She thought that, between her natural strength being enhanced by Chomei's influence over the years, plus the additional boon provided by Sage Mode, she would be able to stop that thing from moving.

Hashirama was watching this from above, looking stunned at the girl's moxie and boldness, though even he had to agree that her plan was probably more stupid that brave.

"What did make that girl think that she can stop the Thousand Armed Kan'on on her own? While possessing a lot of might, no human being, jinchuriki or not, can stop this jutsu on their own," Hashirama said.

But much to his surprise, he realized that the speed at what the wooden construct was advancing was starting to slow down. Little by little, but it was starting to become noticeable after a few moments. Fu's feet generated several claws in order to anchor herslef to the ground, while also spawning multiple arms ended in claws that also attached themselves to the ground in order to secure her position.

And finally, the Kan'on stopped moving. Hashirama looked down, speechless, his mouth agape and eyes wide open.

"That girl... how could she...?" Hashirama began.

"Three, two, one..." Fu counted.

"Just what do they feed that girl?" the First Hokage loudly asked.

"...aaaaaaand there it is," Fu said, rolling her eyes.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Killer B could only watch in surprise and awe.

"She... she did it..." Killer B said.

"Man, if Shino survives the honeymoon, he'll be my hero," Naruto added.

"What are you doing, you pair of dumbasses! Attack now before the girl gives in!" Kurama reminded the humans, snapping them of their shock.

"R-Right, Number Nine! Let's go for a combo, that should do fine!" Killer B suggested.

"Actually, I have a better idea," Naruto said, as he made a single hand seal, creating a handful of clones. "B, I have a plan not only to take down that thing, but Hashirama as well. However, I need you to do as I say."

"I'm listening, Number Nine, how are we going to combine?"

"First of all, enter your Tailed Beast form, and when I tell you, throw this clone into the air," Naruto said, as one of his clones walked close to the Kumo jinchuriki. "Make sure he has a clear shot at Hashirama."

"What are you going to do then, Naruto?" Gyuki asked.

Naruto generated several arms of chakra, and between them and his other clones, he started to prepare the biggest Rasenshuriken he had ever created. Rather than a Rasengan, the base would be a Tailed Beast Ball, and the clones would infuse it with Wind Release chakra. As the jutsu grew in size, Naruto was forced not only to enlarge the chakra arms supporting it, but create even more.

"Hey you guys, what are you doing!?" Fu distressingly called. "My arms are going to break anytime now, so you better not be wasting all this time I'm buying you!"

"Fu, when I tell you, stop pushing the statue back! And try to move to the side away from the giant fists' range" Naruto said, his jutsu almost ready. "Now!"

Fu did as she was told, and flew to the side as fast as she could. The Kan'on once again started moving at its usual speed. Several of its giant arms from its back prepared to rain pain over them again.

"Octopops, now!" Naruto called. "Get away from that thing as well!"

"There you GO!" Killer B said, as he launched the Naruto clone into the air with as much force as he could, before turning back and dragging his body away.

As he did this, dozens of giant wooden arms shot from the Kan'on's back, ready to smash Naruto to pulp. However, before the fists could connect, Naruto's jutsu suddenly vanished, and the blond jinchuriki disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Uh? What did Naruto do?" Killer B asked.

"Up there!" Gyuki told him.

The Kumo ninja looked upwards, and saw that the Naruto clone he had launched into the air was now holding the giant Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken with both arms. The jinchuriki of the Eight Tails quickly realized what had happened.

"Oh, I see, he used Substituion with a clone, that was pretty cool!" Killer B said in realization. "And from that angle, he has a direct hit to that fool!"

"Sage Art: Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken!"

Naruto threw the gigantic wind shuriken downwards. Hashirama tried to direct the statue's wood arms to intercept it, but most of them had been used to smash ground targets, meaning that he was now defenseless. All he could do now was jump out of the statue, or else the jutsu would obliterate him as well.

Hashirama jumped away a few seconds before Naruto's attack connected, resulting in a massive explosion of chakra and razor sharp winds that quickly shredded the statue to splinters. It also produced a shockwave so powerful, it send a gust of wind in every direction that threatened to take down nearby trees. And naturally, it threw Hashirama off balance, and the undead Hokage started to spiral down towards the ground.

Just as Naruto had been expected.

"He can't dodge now! Finish him off!" Naruto told Killer B.

"Alright, here comes quite the big blast! Time to finish this battle at last!" Killer B said, as he formed a Tailed Beast Ball as fast as he could between his jaws. He then swallowed the ball, before opening his mouth, releasing a cone of pure destructive energy. "Tailed Beast Wave!"

Hashirama could do nothing but watch how the destructive wave came close to him. Even with the extra resilence provided by Sage Mode, an attack of that power would leave him too wrecked to continue fighting, and the three jinchuriki could seal him before the Impure World Resurrection's regeneration could restore his body.

He smiled.

"To think that there are people able to beat my Thousand Armed Kan'on..." Hashirama said. "This generation of ninjas is truly outstanding..."

The wave of destructive energy enugulfed him, and the fight was over.

…

Ninja Alliance HQ

Naturally, the news of the attack on the Turtle Island caused quite the commotion on the Alliance HQ. Onoki barked orders while the rest of the advisors tried to come up with ideas on how to find and secure the now vulnerable jinchuriki before the Akatsuki did.

Fortunately, none of those ideas would be needed.

"Onoki-sama, I believe we found the jinchuriki!" Ao said, as he and other sensors used the Sensing Water Sphere to scan the country. "A huge spike of chakra coming from the north!"

"Do we have any divisions there?" Onoki asked.

"The closest is the Kurotsuchi's Second Division, but they're too far away to be them! They have to be the jinchuriki!" Ao assured.

"In that case, they're our priority. Send a message to my granddaughter with the new orders. I know they just came from a battle, but their rest will have to wait! This is too important!" Onoki ordered.

"As you say, Onoki-sa...WHOA!" Ao said in shock.

"What? What's wrong, you one-eyed kid?" Onoki asked.

"Another spike of chakra. This one less than a kilometer away from the Second Division. I believe it's an enemy," Ao said, sounding now more worried and less energic. A chill of dread ran down his spone. "The power of this new chakra... is something I never sensed before."

…

Hashirama's borken body laid on the ground. He was missing both his legs, his entire left arm, a chunk of his right arm, and the left side of his face. If his innards were nothing more than dust and ashes, Naruto would have probably thrown up. Even if the regeneration was already kicking in, he knew it would take some time before he could move again.

"Fu, seal him before he can get back," Naruto told the Taki kunoichi.

Fu nodded, and started to wrap Hashirama's body in chakra thread.

"Congratulations on defeating me, you three. No one has been ever able to beat me when I used the Thousand Armed Kan'on, but you managed to do it," Hashirama said, smiling. "You give me hope for the future."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Naruto sincerely replied. Killer B didn't say anything, but nodded respectfully.

"That power you three displayed... that was the power born from humans and Tailed Beasts working together... not as master and slave, but as equals... if only I had knew," Hashirama chuckled sadly. "I don't know if the Tailed Beasts inside you can hear me, but for all that it's worth... tell them that I'm sorry for what I did, and how I treated them."

The three Tailed Beasts did hear Hashirama. They didn't say if they accepted the apology, but they didn't rejected it either.

"Also, that necklace... you're one of Tsuna's sons right?" Hashirama asked. "She told me she had two sons when I was revived the first time."

"Yeah. Though I'm adopted," Naruto said, as he held the chakra jewel on his hand. "Mom gave me this when I graduated from the Academy. I had it with me ever since."

"Good. Make you live so you can pass it to your descendants, like Tsuna and I did," Hashirama replied.

"Don't worry, I will," Naruto reassured.

"Guess that's all. Make sure you end this war as soon as possible," Hashirama said. Suddenly, his peaceful expression disappeared, and was replaced by one of shock and even panic. He tried to warn the jinchuriki, but before he could Fu finished encasing him inside a tight cocoon of chakra threads, while Naruto and Killer B placed seals around it to secure it.

Before he was sealed, Hashirama had sensed a presence, not far away from there. A presence he hadn't felt in decades. An extremely powerful presence.

Hashirama realized in horror that he wasn't going to be the biggest obstacle the people of Konoha and their allies would have to face.

…

Second Division Base Camp

Kurotsuchi was relaxing inside her private tent after another hard won battle, which had ended a couple hours ago.

The battle had left the young Tsuchikage with a sense of unease for as long as it lasted. While the White Zetsu clones were numerous, and even had some aerial reinforcements, the reanimations this time around weren't that strong, which went against Intelligence predictions of Orochimaru sending increasingly powerful zombies against them.

Her instincts told her that this was a trap. Orochimaru wanted them to lower their guard so he could strike them with an unsuspecting attack, so she made sure to carefully watch over the battlefield as she took care of the winged Zetsu. The Zetsu's numbers were whittled down, the reanimations were dealt with, and when it became obvious Akatsuki had lost yet again, they cut their losses and retreated.

And the dreaded surprise attack never came.

So she did the same thing she had done in this situation and ordered a base camp to be set up. She contacted her grandfather, and requested medics to heal the wounded, as well as Hanabi Hyuga to destroy the sealed reanimations. They arrived in record time, and quickly got to work. It seemed that today wasn't going to be very eventful.

And once again, her instincts proved her wrong.

"Tsuchikage-sama!" an Iwa ninja hollered, as he basically broke into the tent.

"Whoa, calm down! Where is the fire?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"A new enemy! Please, you have to come with us!" the Iwa ninja shouted, in an almost pleading tone.

"A new enemy? How many?" Kurotsuchi said, jumping to her feet, ready to fight.

"Just one," the Iwa ninja said. Upon seeing his Kage's face of incredulity, he added. "But not just any enemy. It's no other than..."

…

From a small cliff overseeing the Second Divison Base camp, two figures stood there. One clad in the familiar Akatsuki black robe with red clouds, and the other in an extremely outdated metal armor.

"It is as you said, Zetsu," Madara said, as he saw all the ninjas gathering around the hill, ready to battle. "While they aren't exactly the same as in my time, I do recognize most of those uniforms. They belong to the Five Great Ninja villages."

"This one's being led by Iwa's current Tsuchikage," the white half began. "Onoki's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi."

"Interesting," Madara smirked. "I will take pleasure seeing how good she dances in comparison to her grandfather. Enough waiting, let's get started."

---

Author's Note: And thus Hashirama and Mito are finally defeated. Unfortunately, Naruto, KIller B and Fu are now too exhasuted to continue and they'll have to spend the night resting.

Something I forgot to say in the previous chapter: a lot of you have been asking me to give Naruto the Hiraishin. And I did consider it for some time before I decided against it. And these past two chapters validated my decision. Because if Naruto had the Hiraishin, I wouldn't be able to write these chapters, since the moment the island was attacked, he could just grab Killer B and Fu (hell, maybe everyone on the island) and teleport them to safety. Because, cool as I agree it is, a lot of people don't see how incredibly broken something like the Hiraishin is.

Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.

Next chapter, Madara is up and ready to wreck havoc. Be afraid. Be very afraid. In the meantime, don't forget a review with your thoughts on this battle, and perhaps what you think it's going to happen the next one, and how many people are going to die. Reviews make me really, really, really happy!