Five people froze.
Naruto snarled in rage.
He didn't have enough self-control to keep using the highest level of his Cloak right now. Not without endangering everyone else. He let it return to its more controllable state, once more.
He wanted to scream. Pain, grief, horror and sorrow warred inside him.
His heart seized and for a moment his mind went blank with rage. His chakra exploded out of him.
He should have been able to save her. He should have gone himself. Not because Obito had killed the parents he had never felt enough of a connection to to feel vengeful. Not because he was a monster.
Not even because as Uchiha Madara, he had made him that way.
But because Sakura would not have had to die for them.
Naruto felt the same desire to destroy everything responsible for this—
No.
If she and Ino hadn't stayed behind, they would have had to deal with Nagato and Obito at the same time.
Or Sasuke would have gotten captured without even being able to warn them.
Or the rest of them would have been killed by Nagato, had Naruto himself stayed behind.
Clarity returned.
Later. Later, he would deal with this. With the Rinnegan, he could trade his own life for hers.
First came Nagato.
Karin fought, just as the others did.
And none of the tools they had crafted were working.
Not the weapons. Not the shields. And not the sealing tools, either.
What was made by the Rinnegan…
Could be unmade by the Rinnegan.
And Nagato's mastery over it meant that the more he saw of their Creations… the more he knew what to expect.
None of the Uchiha dared using the Izanagi, either. For fear that Nagato might undo it, resulting in the loss of an eye and the situation they would have tried to prevent in the first place.
Sakura's death—
Anything not to think about it now.
She had felt Ino reach out to her, but had been too busy trying to stay alive—
Karin couldn't even begin to think about it, not now. Otherwise she would unravel. The sheer grief she felt, the hole in her heart was already too much, way too much.
Saku—
She stepped back when she felt Sasuke and Itachi's chakra build up. To her senses, this sort of battle was the worst. It felt like being in the middle of a hurricane; in the eye of the storm.
Movements became hard to read, because too much chakra was being thrown around, too casually. And considering this was Nagato, a simple misstep might mean death.
Sakura.
Two complete Susanoo rose, red and pink. Chakra exploded, and Karin used her chains to pull herself back.
"Hinokagutsuchi!"
"Sage Art: Blazing Swords!"
A fireball burst out of Itachi's mouth, turning dark as it expanded. Black fire leaped toward Nagato, and the other Susanoo's fiery swords slammed around the man, enclosing him in. In between white death and black death.
Naruto was above Nagato, bow drawn, a terrifying expression twisting his face. Hanabi was up there, next to him, his perfect mirror.
They shot twin physical arrows that spiraled together, guided by his Path, anticipating any possible movement from Nagato.
Even higher up, Anko's arm turned to a cannon.
"Uchiha Flame Formation!" Shisui called from the other side. The shimmering wall of chakra rose in between them and Nagato, just in time to enclose Anko's attack.
"Barrier Chains." Karin called, completing the trap by layering another trapping layer around Nagato.
Before it closed entirely, Anko shot something that looked like a cannonball from her arm.
It was a mixed attack, both physical and ninjutsu-based, something that would force Nagato to use his ultimate defense, instead of relying on his chakra absorption. And if he did so, using a version of it strong enough to protect him, then he would be open to physical attacks for a little while. That was the only weakness of Shinra Tensei.
But that was a powerful attack.
Would their defenses be enough…? Shisui didn't seem to think so. He reinforced his barrier, and summoned his own Susanoo. For added safety, Karin began to summon a layer of Earth around the barriers. She wrapped her chains around herself, too.
And then there was a horrific noise. Like the fabric of reality tearing itself open. A flash, a glimpse of something so powerful that Karin felt her knees shake.
Nagato's chakra coiled upon itself.
The Nine Tails' chakra coiled upon itself.
The large room seemed to coil upon itself.
Everything was pulled to Nagato.
"Shinra Tensei: Collapsing Stars."
And when the pressure reached its apex, everything was washed away in a burst of tremendous power.
Even for the people who were not close enough to see the top of the fortress blow apart in a show of light and power, the distant rumble of the explosion reached.
They had grossly underestimated how much power Nagato could output in just a moment.
The first thing that reached Karin, after the pain, was the feeling of cold. The room had been destroyed. She was lying on the ground, in between broken things that had probably been part of a wall at some point.
Above her, nothing but the frigid glare of the sun, and an endless expanse of blue.
Around her, fire and lightning, slowly dying down.
Under her, blood. Karin felt numb already.
The room began rebuilding itself, at a snail's pace.
The others were nowhere to be seen. Karin extended her awareness, feeling the pain in her head become worse, and she sighed in relief. They were alive, all of them, but far away.
Why had they thought a few layers of barriers would be enough...? Karin had taken the worst of the impact, and unlike Shisui, who had been just as close, she didn't have a Susanoo to shield her. Naruto had likely countered the jutsu with his own.
Looking down, she could see why her legs didn't seem to answer. They were crushed, trapped under the rubble, and she was bleeding out.
Ah. That's bad. She thought numbly, pushing the horror away.
She summoned a healing chain and bit her other hand at the same time. It didn't help much, this time. She would need the King of Hell.
She felt a familiar chakra signature drawing closer, almost silently.
That's… bad.
Nagato was walking toward her, deceptively casual. Karin's hand moved.
His own hand flashed.
A chakra rod flew, stabbing through her hand and pinning it to the floor.
A second one followed, and it punched through her chest.
Karin spat blood.
She looked down.
'…Not good.'
She tried to reach for the King of Hell. She found that she couldn't.
Nagato's chakra began pushing through her, trying to take over her own.
No fucking way. She snarled.
Pierced heart or not, she was not going to let this fucker have his way.
She put her remaining hand down.
"Medics first." Nagato quoted. His middle finger extended into a scythe-like blade. "I won't risk you healing them anymore. It is a shame that you are so strong… and that we are kin."
He swung down, aiming at removing her head, this time.
Her chakra exploded.
Golden chains erupted from the rubble, faster than the eye could blink. They wrapped around him, tightly—
"What…?" Nagato sounded surprised, and for a second she thought she saw a flicker of fear.
Why?
The end of the chain became a spike, one aimed at his eyes. Nagato reacted. He dispelled the chains, using his Preta Path.
He could absorb her chains, but nonetheless, for an instant… he had been afraid.
Think.
Karin summoned the King of Hell, in Nagato's moment of distraction. Nagato recovered quickly, and she knew she wouldn't have the time to pull herself in.
Nagato's chakra flooded her body again. She couldn't make the King of Hell pull her to it at all.
Karin thought she heard whispers coming from the black void of it. Voices, too. Words she could recognize. "Jōdo", "Naraka."
Was she dying dying, then…? She ignored it.
Karin thought of a gateway, instead. Focusing on Ino.
Let's hope this works.
Nagato had panicked.
Think.
Karin realized. Of course he wouldn't want his chakra suppressed, even for a second.
The Nine-Tails… Karin sent to the others. His control over it still isn't perfect. Use the Seven—
Now that the link was open, the others answered right away.
Please—
KARIN!
Where are you?! I'm coming!
She laughed weakly. To think she had people who cared about her this much, now…
Not too bad, for a strange girl from a backwater village.
And the skies are blue today, too. Karin noted, absentmindedly.
Maybe she could see them again, someday…?
Her gamble had worked. Ino stepped out from the King of Hell, healed from her own fight.
Good. Naruto couldn't really use the Naraka Path that well, yet. If Karin could be of some use, even now…
Ino's face was a mixture of horror and fury. Ino tried to reach for her, the King of Hell's tongue extending. It pulled her in.
Too late.
I don't want to go — There's so much I still have to—
I'm sorry, all of you.
Uzumaki Karin died.
Ino faced Nagato alone, her eyes wild.
Outmatched was not exactly the word she would use for the situation. Because that would be an understatement.
Right now, she couldn't care less.
Obito was already dead. And no matter what else happened today, Nagato would have to die as well.
"These are nice eyes." Uzumaki Nagato smiled. "Only one of you came, too. Obito must have killed the other, then."
Ino's teeth felt like they were about to break.
Not her, too. NOT HER, TOO!
"You hate me." He said evenly.
"I do." She spat. It was obvious, too. "Do you consider this a victory?!"
"It is a start." Nagato smiled.
Ino summoned her weapon to her hand. With Karin gone, she had no real control over the King of Hell.
His chakra flared and a wave of power nearly made her lose her grip on it. He stepped forward.
He looked like a normal man, if you could ignore… everything else.
And a man could die. Not by her hand, likely, but he too was vulnerable.
Ino rammed her naginata through his chest.
At first, she thought he was a clone. Then he continued to walk, and his hand dispelled her chakra, that laced the blade.
He walked toward her, burying the blade deeper and deeper through his body, his eyes pinning her in place.
Motherfucker.
The message he was sending her was clear. You're beneath my notice. Your tricks will do nothing. Obito was nothing.
Ino let go of her weapon and stepped back.
The naginata still sticking from his body, Nagato blurred forward.
Ino dodged him. Barely.
A third arm burst out of his back and caught her by the throat. Another hand pulled.
Ino's hand shot up.
She pushed her own soul back in and held it there.
Nagato turned around in surprise. When he looked at Ino, she just bared her teeth in a snarl.
"Human Path…?" He muttered. "Of course…"
Ino summoned a wind blade to her hand, slamming it down, with the hope of cutting through his extra forearm entirely. A blue shimmer, and her blade faded away. She kicked upward instead, breaking the arm at the elbow.
Nagato smiled a bit, as Ino managed to wrestle her way out of his grip. A hand lifted.
"Horizontal Push."
It hit Ino like a mighty hammer blow and she was thrown far away, spinning.
She had managed to focus chakra through her armor, though.
Naruto was the first one to arrive, shortly after seeing her getting thrown away, spinning, toward the horizon.
He knew she was alive, at the very least.
"Nagato!" Naruto gritted out, the single word not managing to convey even half of his pain, half his fury.
The pain, the horror on his face was obvious, and his tears flew freely. Naruto's chakra flickered, hovering between golden and purple.
His eyes looked as though they were tinted red, too, but he didn't notice it himself. There was a numbness in Naruto. Disbelief, too. He stood still.
A fierce, red rage threatened to overcome him.
He was looking at Nagato, but didn't look as though he was seeing him at all.
"You are dead." Naruto finally said, every word coming out clipped. "You just don't know it yet."
"Am I now…? Your friends are dying, one by one." Nagato remarked flippantly. "That is all I know."
"Do you think I will accept this…?!" Naruto asked.
His voice was a terrible thing. Light shaped itself into a blade and he rushed in, face contorted.
He moved fluidly, twisting around each of Nagato's limbs, making sure to keep himself away from his grasp. Naruto's sword flashed in the air, reflecting the light of the sun.
"Oh?" Nagato asked, amused, in between two attacks. "Now that you lost your lovers, you suddenly can't take it…? The pain—"
A serrated blade extended from Nagato's forearm, in something that reminded Naruto of the Kaguya he had faced, a while ago. Nagato's weapon was at least as durable, something that would have shattered Naruto's own, if he had faced him back then.
Their blades met with the sounds of steel grinding against steel. Sparks flew.
Naruto…
Naruto went cold.
"…Get over yourself." Was what he ended up saying, sounding like contained thunder.
"What…?"
He wanted to scream in fury, but it wouldn't change anything. And something about his tone made Nagato frown.
"I said get over yourself." Naruto repeated.
Nagato scoffed. "Foolish—"
"Spare me the bullshit! Everybody lost people. You lost loved ones. I lost loved ones. And now you expect me to react in a way that would make all of your ideas valid. Is that it…? IS THAT IT?!"
Naruto breathed out, pushing the Nine-Tails' chakra away.
"I… have lost them, this much is true." He said evenly again.
It was not the first time he lost someone. Far from it. He had lived before.
But not Sakura. Not Karin.
Something inside him felt red and burning; something felt dead.
Naruto pushed his opponent's blade away. He reversed his grip on his blade and attempted to stab him. Nagato dodged the motion, as well as the ribbon that Naruto had directed toward him.
"You may kill them and you may kill me too. It won't change us the way you want to. We came close in the past, but not now… Not ever."
"And still… you won't accept it." Nagato smiled coldly.
His blade flickered like a snake's tongue, darting to strike Naruto.
"Because there is no reason to! No reason for me to accept something I can undo." Naruto spat. "What good are these eyes, if I don't use them?! I will bring them back, no matter what it takes!"
Naruto countered the blade by smashing his knuckles against the flat of it.
"…You could. It is true. For your life." Nagato smiled placidly. "If you lived."
"I will."
"…I see." Nagato scoffed, and he attacked again, pulling Naruto toward him using a lesser Banshō Ten'in. "You still have learned nothing, then."
Naruto pushed an equal force forward, preventing himself from getting pulled.
"There was nothing to learn from you. Something terrible happened to you and you broke. Your 'solution' is nothing but a way to bring everyone else to your level of suffering. You could have done so much more, had you simply learned to see past it!"
Nagato's calm facade crumbled for an instant, and true fury lurked beneath.
Four more arms extended behind his back, light gleaming in each of them.
"Would you care to live in a world where all of the people you loved are dead, Uzumaki Naruto…?"
A beam of light.
"I wouldn't want to. But it wouldn't break me. Not this time. There are things that need to be done, first." Naruto shot back, dodging through the beams.
There was no point in overexerting himself now, despite his raging emotions. Nagato hadn't shown his hand yet. Summoning his bow, he nocked an arrow.
"You say these words because you plan on dying, no matter what." Nagato scoffed.
One arrow shot forward.
"What does it matter? I will finish what I set out to do. Unlike you!"
Naruto released a second arrow.
"Death is the only thing coming for you, by my hand or your own!" Nagato's blood boiled. Naruto slid over the floor, under a beam of blue light.
"Death is nothing! You would have seen it too, had you not been so blind!" Naruto roared.
"Then I will kill them all before I kill you." Nagato snarled. "I will make these foolish words your last, Naruto!"
"I believe you have said this before, Nagato!" Naruto bellowed. "Your threats are empty!"
Naruto's chakra flared around him.
"Do you intend on fighting me on your own…?" Nagato laughed.
"The others aren't here yet, are they…?"
His chakra shaped itself into purple swords that hovered around him. They encircled him, spinning horizontally and shielding Naruto.
"Spectral Swords."
"I assumed you were not foolish enough to use chakra weapons against me." Nagato began, launching himself at the younger man. "Was I wrong…?"
Naruto was… faster than Nagato was. His sword shot up to block the descending spinning kick that Nagato led with. A spike shot from Nagato's foot, and his head whipped to the side to avoid it. One of Naruto's fingers lifted, and several of the swords that surrounded him shot up.
Nagato extended his hand to absorb them.
Two of the swords became physical and pierced his hand.
Nagato dashed backward. "Of course, of course." He nodded slowly. "That is a pretty good way to go around my defenses."
Naruto said nothing, simply opting to follow after him. Nagato may have much more power, but Naruto still had the advantage, when it came to speed. The spectral swords spun around him, like a deadly circle.
Nagato had been right about this. Naruto turned his swords physical when the older man tried to absorb them, and did the opposite whenever he saw that Nagato intended to use his Asura path to shield himself.
The only thing they couldn't pass was the Shinra Tensei. But if he could simply force the man to use it… Well that was a start.
Naruto's sword whistled down.
Nagato lifted his arm and metal spikes blocked the weapon. The spectral swords rushed toward his lower body. Some remained in their semi-physical state, others became corporeal.
Nagato didn't manage to block all of them and they buried themselves into his midsection.
His weapon thrust forward, a powerful thrust that Naruto blocked with his odachi. One that still sent him flying backwards.
Nagato hummed in satisfaction. "So there is someone alive who can still give me an interesting fight, after all."
Naruto blurred, reappearing close to Nagato again, more of the spectral swords flying around him. Nagato didn't even bother pulling the swords out.
Both of their eyes flickered toward the same direction. Naruto used this momentary distraction to slash horizontally at him. Nagato jumped over the sword…
And he absorbed the incoming wave of pale flame.
Naruto's swords blitzed him again, entirely physical.
"Shinra Tensei." Nagato called.
"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto roared in answer.
His push, although weaker than Nagato's, allowed him to stay on his feet when the ground exploded under his feet.
Nagato smiled.
The others arrived, one after the other. Once Hanabi landed, she summoned Ino to her again.
All of them were here.
And the Umi ninja's expressions would have terrified any other man.
Nagato's wounds — or rather the bloodstains they left once they faded — didn't go unnoticed.
"You are not as invincible as you pretend to be." Sasuke growled. He was not angry, he was downright pissed. And the last member of his original team. But sadness could wait. Had to wait.
"Well." Nagato smiled. "I was trying to find some entertainment here. But you're right. This has lasted for too long already."
Shimmering golden chakra exploded from Nagato's gut.
"You will be among the first to see this up close. And the first people alive, as well." Nagato grinned. "You should feel honored."
Thick and violent chakra began to swirl, and all of the ninja here stood entirely silent, not even daring to attack.
His whole body was shrouded in golden chakra, like a layer of liquid power. The cloak of chakra seemed entirely stable.
The clouds seemed darker now, somehow, more ominous; the pressure in the air stronger. And Nagato glinted with a terrifying golden light.
"You came for the Gedō Mazō, didn't you…?" Nagato smiled. "Unfortunately, you won't find it here. I've had the Rinnegan for a bit longer than you, after all. I know a few things about it, myself."