The Rise of a Warrior: Naruto: Shippuden

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Three years have come and gone, and while Tatsu and the ninja of the Hidden Leaf have grown stronger, they'll have a whole new group of enemies to face. The era of Team Dragon has arrived, but can they rise to the challenge? Sequel to the Rise of a Warrior: Naruto, second story in my Naruto trilogy. Please read each chapter until the end and check for notes.

33. Tailed Beasts & Dragons, Two Man Teams

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT WE ARE!" so with a mighty roar, Naruto met Tobi in the middle and collided with him with a powerful headbutt, only to be blown back by the shockwave that resulted from the collision.

Tatsu caught him before he could be sent spiralling "You know there is such a thing as overkill at times like this, and the irony of that is that it's coming from me of all people."

"Yeah yeah I got it but damn that thing is hard, I rammed into that thing like Bushy Brow on that crazy Tantrum stuff from the Chunin Exam but I didn't even scratch it."

"I could've just passed right through you but if you can't even scratch my mask then I guess it doesn't even matter." Madara's tone was increasingly condescending "That cannot be all that you can manage, what about the Nine Tails power inside of you." he snapped his fingers and the six reanimated jinchuuriki (Bunpuku, the previous jinchuuriki of the One Tail before Gaara, Yugito of the Two Tails, Yagura of the Three Tails, Roshi of the Four Tails, Han of the Five Tails and a figure with brown hair greying on the outsides and a Hidden Waterfall headband) appeared before him, each with one Sharingan and one Rinnegan.

"Lava Style: Scorching Rocks Jutsu!" Roshi blitzed through a number of hand seals and fired off a barrage of lava balls.

"Guys get back, I've got this!" Tatsu leapt into the air, a cyan coloured Rasengan forming in his palm, and he charged forward "Tensei-Rasengan!"

"Water Style: Aqua Mirror Jutsu!" Yagura created a mirror out of his water chakra, creating a mirrored copy of Tatsu that countered the attack with one of its own, cancelling it out and causing the fake to dispel into water.

Tatsu quickly retreated backwards towards the others 'Well this sucks, these guys have the same level of strength as me and Naruto and the rest of them. That probably means that these guys are reanimated jinchuuriki.'

"Sand Shower Barrage!" Bunpuku hit Tatsu with a barrage of sand, sending him hurtling towards the ground, but he managed to catapult himself back up to meet them at eye level using his Chakra arms "F*ck!" this was followed by a strange powder covering the area "Oh shit what now?"

"Secret Ninjutsu: Scaled Sneak Jutsu!" Hisen unleashed a jutsu of his own, blinding Tatsu and the others and apparently allowing Yugito and Han to charge at them undetected.

"Not a chance fool ya fool!" Killer B and Utakata managed to block their attacks and retreated back a short distance "Yo fool my shades be the best of the best, light with my eyes don't you dare mess!"

"Not to mention that me, Tatsu and Utakata can still see the evil intent coming off of them all around us." Naruto pointed out "Tracking these guys will be easy."

"Plus Yugito is here too, so that means that all of these fools in front of us are a bunch of former jinchuuriki."

"And on top of that this guy has tweaked each of them a little bit to his liking, a Sharingan in one eye and a Rinnegan in the other." Tatsu pointed out "They were robbed of their lives because of the Akatsuki and turned into pawns by Kabuto, not to mention had those things forced into their heads. You know B if things had gone a little bit differently then you probably would've ended up just like that too."

"To see them all looking all undead like that fills me with rage and grief but me not getting all those whacked out eyes like that is still a big relief."

"You know what would be an even bigger relief? You shutting the f*ck up!"

"Enough hating on Octopops, take a look at that Madara over there." Naruto pointed out "His eyes are exactly the same as that and his new mask has two holes in it, not just one like he did the last time that we saw him."

"Probably trying to show off that new Rinnegan that he shoved in there."

"That's not the only difference either as I'm sure you've noticed." Madara told them "I had to custom make this mask, it happens to be made extra sturdy for battles such as these."

"So that eye that you shoved in there, you swiped that little bastard from Nagato's corpse before the war started didn't you? Still trying to sell your little ruse even after the other Madara popped up? Well count on this you f*cking reject, by the time this is over you're gonna be joining the other Madara in the depths of hell."

"...Did you just say the other Madara? Damn that Kabuto, he just had to use that of all things didn't he?'

"Forget it, you can't Sharingan your way out of this one. The real Madara showed up on one of the other battlefields under Kabuto's Reanimation Jutsu which means that you're nothing but some fraud."

"Is that so? Well then would you prefer to call me by my former name of Tobi? Now that the war has begun and is so far in earnest my name is irrelevant. Whether it be Madara or Tobi you may feel free to call me whatever you wish."

"Just stop prattling and tell us, who the hell are you really?" Naruto snarled.

Tatsu raised an eyebrow "Prattling huh?"

"Yeah I know terms! (Drake and Josh reference) Seriously though, who in the name of f*ck are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter." Tobi told him "I am no one and I do not want to be anyone, all that matters to me now is that Project Tsuki no Me succeeds. That will be enough for me. It is not worth living in this world where you can live a thousand lifetimes but only be met with pain and despair. You and all of the other jinchuuriki had Tailed Beasts forced into your bodies, you were forced to bear such a powerful burden and all of the pain and hatred that comes with it. Tell me this, am I so far from the truth? Sure you would be able to understand my despair at least a little bit."

"And what the hell gives you the right to decide that?" Tatsu let out an outright snarl "When did you get the right to assume that having we would give into despair like that just because we have inside of us a Tailed Beast or some insane power that fear and despise?"

Naruto nodded "Yeah sure it's rough from the get go but this is the life that we live and neither of us would want to change it even if we could."

"And even if you think that this world is worthless you'd have to be as stupid as Naruto here to think that you can get away with starting a war like this and then try to act like you're some kind of victim? You just made a big mistake Tobi, you pissed me off and if you piss me off then I rip out your heart! KALI MA!"

"And I'm gonna tear that mask right off of your face!"

"The two of you can to remove this mask." Tobi formed a hand seal and the reanimated jinchuuriki began sprouting tails of their own "But if you do then the two of you will have your bodies broken and your spirits shattered. Nine Tails, Eight Tails, Six Tails, the three of you shall belong to me and then I will achieve Project Tsuki no Me!"

"You can forget about that, the day that I let you have the Nine Tails or the Eight Tails is the day that Sasuke becomes a hatred and vengeance seeking psychopath!" (see what I did there?)

"Hold up a second dumbass." Tatsu cut him off "Take a look, I thought that the Tailed Beasts had been extracted from them but it looks like they were sealed back into these jinchuuriki after they had been reanimated. On top of that something else about this feels off too, be careful when you attack or you're as good as dead."

"Oh please when the hell am I not careful? You know what don't answer that."

"I don't have to."

"Looks like you boys are raring and ready to fight but that's fine by me, alright now I'm totally raring to go you know!" Killer B braced himself and charged with one of his swords stuck in his teeth.

"Well he's f*cked and frankly I'm not gonna miss him."

Killer B charged at Hisen, only for him to suddenly sprout wings like from the Seven Tails itself and dodge the attack 'Moves aren't too shabby.' he threw one of his blades at him, drawing his attention away from another blade aimed at him from behind 'OK looks like this fool hasn't spotted my KO!'

However, using the linked field of vision with the Rinnegan, Hisen managed to dodge it just by cranking his neck.

'What the hell, how could he dodge it when he didn't even see it fool ya fool?!'

"Forget it Octopops, that isn't gonna work on these guys." Naruto blitzed above him, with Tatsu and Utakata doing the same "This is just like back when I fought the Six Paths of Pain a few months ago, these reanimated jinchuuriki all have the Rinnegan so their eyes are all linked up to each other."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that they can all see what the others see you dumbass!" Tatsu shoved Naruto out of the path of Roshi's lava attack and managed to counter him with a quick Rasengan, though he was burned across his cheek and left in the line of fire for Yugito's attack that followed.

"Crap baskets, that's Yugito's Rodent Hairball!" thinking quick, Killer B grabbed the other three using his tentacles and took off in the other direction as the Rodent Hairball divided and multiplied, covering the area.

That is, before Yugito caught up with them and managed to cut Killer B's scarf off just before they vanished, receiving a deep gash across her chest, though it quickly regenerated.

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The four of them had taken refuge underneath a thick grove of bushes not far away.

Killer B's mind was racing out loud "Yugito's moves are different then they were before, not to mention my designer scarf that she tore. That surprise ain't nice, now this bad boy is only worth half the price."

"My best guess is that it's because of the Sharingan she had." Tatsu told him "That thing was how they were able to track us so closely, that visual prowess that Tobi implanted in them must be enhancing their jinchuuriki abilities. That and the shared vision that they have thanks to their Rinnegan allows them to position themselves with way more precision and better attack timing so it's that much more to their advantage. To sum it up, they've got their original jinchuuriki abilities along with two different visual Kekkei Genkai."

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Utakata.

"The way I see it, the only option we've got right now is to attack them one by one and bring them down. If it's the same as Naruto and my brother told me then they're all being controlled by some kind of black chakra rods implanted in their bodies. If we can find the chakra rods implanted in their bodies and then extract or destroy them…"

"Then the jutsu would become undone?" asked Naruto.

"I don't think that's guarantee but at the very least it would immobilize them, and that's if we can actually get close enough to do it. It's already hard enough as it is landing any blows on them at all let alone target these black rods especially if we don't have any idea where they might be located."

"Hey fools is that it there?" Killer B pointed at Yugito "Take a good long look at Yugito's bosom and that will clear up any confusion because right on there you can see plain as day a black protrusion! Not to cause a ripple but at first I thought it was a-"

"No one wants to hear about your boner." Tatsu pointed to where Yugito's wound was quickly regenerating.

"You know when they're flaunting it's unappealing but just a little glimpse gives me one hell of a good feeling."

"...I'm gonna let that one slide because I do see it."

"Yeah I gotcha, alright now I'm gonna go check out the rest of them too." and so Naruto bolted out of their hiding place.

"Dammit Naruto you idiot don't!"

'I think I can make this work!' Naruto allowed Roshi to land a blow and managed to catch his fist in the process 'If we can't hit them and they're too fast for us to catch then I'll let myself get hit so that I can grab them- Oh f*ck that's hot!'

"You know what f*ck it! Rasengan!" Tatsu burst out of his hiding place and dealt Roshi a quickly timed Rasengan, drilling into his chest with it where the black rod was located 'Okay there it is, now I just have to-' he was forced to withdraw from the attack and retreat a short distance when Han attempted to hit him in the face with his Eruption Kick.

Naruto on the other hand wasn't so lucky, and was slammed through several trees "Son of a bitch!"

"Welcome to my world stupid." they were joined by Killer B and Utakata "Look we're at a disadvantage fighting them in the woods like this, the rapper reject over there in particular has a narrowed field of vision. You guys get what I'm trying to say don't you guys?"

"Oh I understand perfectly well what it is that you're saying." Utakata suddenly sprouted his full Six Tails form "B if you start rapping then I swear to the Sage of Six Paths I will annihilate you before you utter the first word."

"Yeah whatever ya rap hater, fool ya fool." Killer B sprouted his full Eight Tails form "Eight Tails that be me, da rapping Killer B!"

"What the hell did I just say?!" Utakata stuck Tatsu and Naruto on top of his head "You guys better hang on tight for now, this is when the real fight is about to begin!"

"Yeah you got that right fool! Duel Tailed Beast Twister!" the two of them unleashed a sort of tornado with their tails, blowing the reanimated jinchuuriki away in the process.

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At the same time, the rest of the battlefields were at last drawing their battles to a close as the numbers of the White Zetsu clones and the reanimated ninja were finally dwindling down towards zero, and as a result moral was reaching new height in the members of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

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As a result of the Duel Tailed Beast Twister, the forest where the final battle had been taking place had been completely wiped off of the map.

Naruto looked on in awe at the sheer power of the display "Holy crap, Tatsu check it out. They demolished the whole forest!"

"That's what a fully powered jinchuuriki is capable of." Tatsu looked down to find all of the reanimated jinchuuriki "Looks like the force of that was too much for them when they're like this."

"So what do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do, all Tobi has to do is make a hand seal and then he can make them summon their Tailed Beast forms to a much greater extent."

"And how the hell do you know that?"

"Because there's a hand sticking out of the ground doing that right now." Tatsu pointed over towards where Tobi was sticking his hand out of the ground and forming a hand seal, causing the reanimated jinchuuriki to enter their Version 2 chakra cloak forms "Say whatever you want about that though, that's still pretty kickass."

And then Tobi rose out of the ground in front and uttered only one word "Go."

"And now shit hits the proverbial fan."

"That masked bastard." Naruto snarled "He's just been hiding in the ground this whole time and sending them to do his dirty work!"

"He's an evil mastermind bent on ending the world, it's kind of what he does."

"Stop wasting time on witty banter fools ya fools, that's my thing!" Killer B tried to catch two of the reanimated jinchuuriki in their palms.

"Coral Palm!" Yagura managed to blitz behind Naruto and Tatsu and strike both of them in the back before they could react, causing coral to grow on their backs, paralyzing them and leaving them vulnerable to a pool of lava that Roshi was forming on the ground below them.

"Floral Mountain!" Roshi made the pool of lava beneath him erupt, wounding Killer B and sending him skidding backwards across the battlefield.

Utakata received some burns as a result of the lava as well "This isn't good, I didn't think they could transform into their Tailed Beast forms in this state. Naruto, Tatsu, I think it's best if we retreat and regroup for the time being!"

"Horn Buster!" now fully transformed into the Five Tails, Han burst forward at full speed and rammed Utakata with his horn, sending him tumbling backwards.

By now Naruto and Tatsu were both on the ground, still bound by Yagura's Coral Palm and unable to move "Dammit… This is bad, I can't move!"

Tobi materialized in front of them "It doesn't matter if three of you are jinchuuriki and one of you has mastered the Tenseigan, six against four is still bad odds. All I have to do is touch you and then this battle is won." he reached to touch Naruto, when…

"Wind Style: Dynamic Entry!" that was when Lee burst onto the scene and attacked, only to phase through Tobi like all others had before, with Kakashi, Guy and Asuma appearing and carrying Naruto and Tatsu off at the same time.

Tobi was quick to realize their plan "So they used Naruto and Tatsu as bait and waited for the moment that I would appear, these Hidden Leaf shinobi really do know how to get on your nerves don't they? Four more joining the party is not going to change a thing, not against my visual prowess and and the power of my Tailed Beasts within my Six Paths of Pain. You haven't a ghost of a chance of winning this battle.

"In case you weren't aware we have a Sharingan too." Asuma gestured over to Kakashi and braced his Adamantine Nyoi staff "Not to mention that we have this bad boy too, along with the two noble beats of the Leaf, the Golden Dragon of the Leaf and our very own hyperactive knucklehead ninja."

"Is that so?"

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At the same time, Jugo and Suigetsu were making their way through a remote forest en route to one of Orochimaru's old hideouts while discussing Sasuke, Hotaru and Karin.

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Naruto got to his feet once he finally could, with Tatsu doing the same "Kakashi-sensei, Bushy Brow, Bushier Brow sensei, Asuma-sensei, you guys all really came!"

"Well of course we did." Lee gave him and Tatsu both thumbs up "Not while two of my fellow members of Team Dragon are working so hard to save the world. So what do we need to know before we fight?"

"The masked guy is packing some serious heat in more ways than one." Tatsu told him "He's got a Sharingan in one eye and a Rinnegan in the other and if I told you anymore like this than Naruto's head might explode so let me show down a little bit. He's controlling the reanimated jinchuuriki through some kind of chakra rods."

"You mean the same ones that Pain was using when Naruto and I fought against him, that means that he has the power of six jinchuuriki at his disposal to use like puppets."

"Looks like your deduction skills have improved but there's no more time for any of that, it's kind of charging towards us like an angry bull." Tatsu gestured over towards where the Five Tails was doing exactly that, only for it to charge in the direction of Utakata "Looks like Tobi is gonna have it attack Utakata and the Six Tails." this was followed by Tobi binding the Five Tails using the Outer Path chains, causing it to roar in agony.

"So painful… I can't believe… I'm letting him… do this… to me… to all of us…"

"What the hell?"

"What's the matter?" asked Asuma.

"What did you not hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It was crying out in pain." Naruto pointed out "I mean I heard it and Tatsu heard it so how the hell could you guys not hear it."

"Nevermind that right now, take a look." Tatsu pointed to where Tobi was using the Outer Path chains to force the Five Tails to revert back to its version 2 form.

"But then why would he bottle up the Tailed Beasts like that?" asked Lee.

"I don't know but from the looks of it it doesn't seem like he has the Tailed Beasts totally under his control."

"Yeah, I noticed…" that was when Utakata crawled his way over to them, with Killer B right behind him "We can hear it, that voice was the Five Tails crying out in pain. The Tailed Beasts have emotions too, it hurts to see them being treated the way that they are.

"No kidding, I might not be a jinchuuriki like the rest of them but it's still sickening to watch him use them like that."

"You say that like it is so different Tatsu Kamikaze."

'Is that you again Hikari?'

"It is. Myself and the rest of the Genryu have been watching over this world since the age of the Sage of the Six Path himself and it has always been the same, shinobi fearing and despising the power of the Tailed Beasts, or they use them as weapons of war. However, the Eight Tails and Killer B seem to be a special exception."

'Yeah but I don't think they're the only ones.' he looked over at Naruto 'And I doubt they've got anything on Naruto.'

"Perhaps. That boy is unique, as are you and the other members of your so called Team Dragon and not just because of the powers that you all wield, but because of the fire in your spirits and the iron wills in your hearts."

'I'm flattered but I don't think now is the time.'

"Tatsu you have to focus." Lee snapped him out of his internal conversation "The enemy is approaching, don't forget that just because myself and the others are here doesn't mean that you can let down your guard."

"Yeah I know, I was just getting praised by a dragon in my head."

"...Sure why not, anyway we need to confirm which of these reanimated jinchuuriki perform which of the jutsu that Rinnegan users can access."

"Leave that to us. Guy, Asuma, let's get moving. Lightning Blade!" Kakashi charged up his Lightning Blade and burst forward.

"Eight Inner Gates: Sixth Gate of Joy: OPEN!" Guy forced open the Sixth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates and followed after Kakashi.

"Adamantine Nyoi!" Asuma brandished the Adamantine Nyoi transformation staff that was used by the Monkey King Enma and followed up in the rear, pushing back to of the jinchuuriki but leaving three to charge at the others "Tatsu, guys, there are three headed your way!"

"I got this! Tailed Beast Crescent Moon Dance!" Naruto drew his Crimson Death Sword, channeled some of Kurama's chakra into it and charged at the three reanimated jinchuuriki at full speed.

Kakashi charged at the transformed Bunpuku with his Lightning Blade prepared 'There's chakra absorption, the Summoning Jutsu, magnetic pull and repulsion, chakra extraction, puppetry. I don't understand, what's going on? They're not using any of the jutsu that Pain did.' he was promptly tailed whack and sent stumbling backwards, the same with Guy and Asuma "Are you guys alright?"

"More or less, but it doesn't make any sense." Asuma noted "I mean I was there during Pain's assault just like you were Kakashi and we both saw his jutsu, this guy isn't using any of those jutsu."

"What if it's because he can't."

"Or maybe he's just rude enough not to divy up his chakra and waste it on us." Guy offered "I mean we already know about and how to counter Pain's jutsu he must have to use up an enormous amount of chakra."

"Yeah it would take an enormous amount of chakra in order to control the power if six Tailed Beasts with one's visual prowess alone."

"Well I've gotta give it to you Kakashi." Tatsu dealt Yagura a quick Rasengan by growing a chakra arm out of his back "I knew training with you and learning all the non porn related crap you had stuffed in your head would pay off someday." he dealt Yugito a quick spin kick and sent her flying.

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Tobi watched the scene from a short distance away 'You have to give it to Kakashi Hatake, he's got very deserving eyes. Well then, I suppose the time has come for me to kick things up a few notches then shall we?' he formed a hand seal and sent out a shockwave, causing the six reanimated jinchuuriki to roar in agony "This time around I think I'll do two of them instead of just one."

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"Get down!" Tatsu pulled Naruto out of the way as Roshi fully transformed into the Four Tails, breaking out of Killer B's hold in the process and forcing Naruto out of his Nine Tails Chakra Mode "You alright?"

Naruto nodded "Yeah I'm good, thanks. I think we should made more Nine Tails chakra and Tenseigan chakra Shadow Clones to distract these guys so we can take the one in the mask head on."

"First of all their vision is linked so that wouldn't work anyway, second of all you can't even summon any of Kurama's chakra right now because if you do then it'll just end up killing you like how Killer B told you remember? Or at least it would've if Kurama hadn't stopped taking your chakra after we left the island, and for that little tidbit you can thank the fact that Kurama is a complete and utter tsundere."

"Get back! Acid Scattering!" Utakata pushed them back and unleashed a form of acid infused with his Tailed Beast chakra, only for the Four Tails to suddenly grab him by the tail and throw him and Tatsu away and catch Naruto in his mouth before swallowing him whole.

"NARUTO! Tatsu blitzed forward and tried to force the Four Tails' mouth open "Come on you god damn monkey, SPIT HIM OUT!" he was merely flung aside and sent crashing to the ground in a heap "FUCK! I can't just lay around here like some sack of shit, I've gotta help him!"

"ENOUGH! Tatsu Kamikaze, you must focus!"

"I don't have time to talk right now Hikari, Naruto is-"

"Yes I am aware, but you will not be able to help him if you cannot help yourself. Defeat them and then save the Uzumaki boy."

'...Alright fine, I get what you're saying.' Tatsu dodged a blast of sand and dealt Bunpuku a quick Rasengan, sending him tumbling backwards "Alright Tobi go ahead and give me all you've got, but you'll have to kill me before I let you get your hands on Naruto!"

"If that is what you wish then so be it." Tobi formed a hand seal, causing the rest of the reanimated jinchuuriki (mainly Bunpuku, Yugito, Yagura and Hisen) to transform into their complete Tailed Beast forms "Time to end this party." he sent the Five Tails and the Three Tails forward to attack him.

"Not this time you Uchiha reject!" Tatsu summoned some chakra arms from his back and used then to form two golden colored Rasenshuriken, one in each hand "This is something that I've been saving just for this occasion! Choke on it Tobi! Tenseigan Style: Golden Wheel Rebirth Rasenshuriken!" he fired the Tenseigan powered Rasenshuriken forward, the explosion that followed hurtling the two Tailed Beasts into the air and forcing them back into their

The Two Tails pounced at Tatsu and launched a massive ball of fire at him, several times bigger than the Two Tails itself.

"And I've got one for you too!" Tatsu fired off the other Golden Wheel Rebirth Rasenshuriken at the Two Tails.

"Eight Inner Gates: Seventh Gate of Shock: OPEN!" Lee suddenly dropped down onto the ground next to Tatsu "Wind Style: HIRUDORA!" he unleashed a Hirudora enhanced by his wind chakra, the combined power of both attacks overpowering the fireball and sending the Two Tails hurtling towards the ground, reverting back to its Version 2 state in the process.

"Thanks for the backup Lee but I can take it from here, go help Kakashi and the others take care of Tobi."

"Got it!" and so Lee bolted off.

'Now then, there's only two more before I get back to the monkey king. So who's up next- Oh yeah, this is gonna be good.'

Sure enough, at that moment Shukaku burst towards Tatsu and unleashed a wave of sand at full speed.

Tatsu catapulted himself into the air "Choke on that one Shukaku, I kicked your ass once and I'll do it again!" he looked back and saw the Seven Tails flying towards him "Shit!" he used his chakra arms to hurl him away using every ounce of his physical strength "Sorry about that, I don't really have a grudge against you Seven Tails and others aside from Shukaku, or whatever the hell your real names are!"

"That is quite interesting."

'What is?'

"You believe that the Tailed Beasts have names just as humans do?"

'Why not? I mean the One Tail and the Nine Tails both have names so why wouldn't the rest of them have names too?"

"...So you are the same as him as well."

'Who?'

"A great man who saw us Genryu, as well as the Tailed Beasts, differently than most humans in this world. The majority of the human race only saw us as great power for them to harness and they cared little for us as actual living beings. The Tailed Beasts were imprisoned and denied their true status, whereas we Genryu were isolated in Mount Koryu for thousands of years before you and your comrades came to us. We all felt something that very few humans truly understand…"

'...The pain of isolation, of loneliness. I may not be a dragon or a Tailed Beast like you or any of them but that doesn't mean that I don't get how you felt. I lost a lot when I was really little, I never even knew my parents because they died when I was just a baby, and then my brother had to fake his death in order to protect me and the rest of the village. I felt so alone for so long, but then Hayate-sensei took me in and trained me, then I met Naruto and the others and before I knew it I had a ton of friends. But I still have a name that reflects the strength of my will and my spirit, Tatsu, the spirit of a dragon. That's one of the main reasons why Tobi claiming that who he is doesn't matter, not to mention using the Tailed Beasts like puppets and forcing them to do whatever he wants… it really pisses me the hell off!'

"I see. Tell me then Tatsu Kamikaze, what would you wish to do with the Tailed Beasts at your disposal?"

'I don't really know, I guess I'd let them be free to do whatever they want but still help them out if they're in a bind. Maybe I could be to them what Naruto, Sasuke, Lee and everyone else in the Hidden Leaf is to me. Real friends you can count on when it really matters. Knowing that they're standing there by my side, it makes me feel really happy. Especially knowing that my brother is back with me, I know I always kept him in my thoughts but I'm just glad that I have him by my side again. I guess it's thanks to him and Hayate-sensei and everyone else in my life that make me feel like… like someone needs to be that for the Tailed Beasts too, and if not Naruto then let it be me, the one who will become the most powerful shinobi the world has ever seen.'

"...You truly are an interesting human Tatsu Kamikaze."

'I get that a lot, I mean granted it's not always a good thing but I'll take it. By the way, what the hell am I gonna do about Naruto? In case you forgot, THE FOUR TAILS ATE HIM!'

"And he's back. There is a way to stop the Four Tails, but before I tell you there's something that you should know."

'What's that?'

"Very few humans have ever shown compassion to the Genryu, in their eyes we are considered to be the same as the Tailed Beasts to them so it has become a sort of principle to avoid contact with them. In other words, do not assume that just because I have faith in you the rest of the Genryu or the Tailed Beasts will. It will be a great risk."

'Yeah well so is everything else I do in life, I risk my life every time I go to take a leak so what else is new?'

"...Somehow, that is the sort of response that I would expect. For example take the Nine Tails, or Kurama as you know him, and consider the fact that they forced their ideals on him and had him restrained for so long."

'And he had enough of their shit when the Lord Fourth sealed him inside of Naruto when he was a newborn sixteen years ago, he told me all about that during the trip to the Turtle Island. At first he tried wearing down the seal by using Naruto's rage as a sort of catalyst but then he stopped trying to do that after he saw Naruto's fight with Kabuto, I guess that's his tsundere like way of showing some respect. Good for him."

"Yes…"

'What's the matter, is there something on your mind?'

"...In a manner of speaking yes. Tatsu Kamikaze, I have seen your memories, in a sense I have observed your entire life over the past 18 years, seen all that you've done, all of the things that you have accomplished over the years. We Genryu are not quite like the other Tailed Beasts at least in terms of personality, our trust can be earned but only by ones that we deem to be truly worthy. Humans have often said the same thing, I have observed all of your actions up to this point by accessing your memories so you should understand this as well. Words alone are not enough to reach us, if you wish to truly prove yourself to be worthy of my power then you must prove it not with words but with actions."

'Fine, go ahead and tell me what it is that I have to do.'

'I will but first we have to focus on freeing the Uzumaki boy from within the stomach of the Four Tails and we must do it fast, the one you call Tobi has already locked onto his current location.'

'Wait what?'

Sure enough, Tobi had discovered that Naruto was inside of the Four Tails "So that is where you ended up, all I have to do is pull you in along with the Four Tails." he formed a hand seal and summoned his Outer Path chains through the black rods embedded in Roshi's body and began pulling him in.

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Things had finally died down with the Medical Division.

Ino packed up her bag and placed it on her thigh 'It's about time for me to head out, Tatsu and the others are fighting on the front lines so now I'm going to be protecting them.'

One of the other medical ninjas looked up "Are you leaving Ino?"

"I don't see any reason for me to stay, the battle here is already over and by now we've already tended to all of the critical cases. The First Division and the Second Division have already split up to aid other divisions so now Kin, Shizune and I should go so we can support Naruto, Tatsu and the others. We'll have to leave the care for the rest of the wounded to you, do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes ma'am it's no problem at all, the non combatants can take care of the wounded but what about Tatsu and the rest of them up front? The things that we've experienced here are nothing compared to what they must be facing on the front lines right now."

"I can only imagine such a thing but Tatsu has always landed on his feet for as long as I've known him, if anyone could pull this off it's him or Naruto." she looked over towards where Kin and Shizune were taking off towards the main battlefield "Looks like it's time for me to head out now."

"Please just be careful."

"I know, and now I leave the rest in your hands." and so she took off 'Tatsu, I'm on my way so please hang in there for just a little bit longer.'

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Tatsu could only watch as Tobi attempted to pull the Four Tails, with Naruto still inside of him from before, back to him using his Outer Path Chains, only for Killer B and Utakata to try and hold him back 'So Hikari what exactly is it that you were saying before?'

"Tatsu Kamikaze, I have seen your memories and in a sense I have lived your life and seen every choice that you have made. I said that if you want to be able to use my power then you must prove yourself to be worthy and you claim that you wish to help the Tailed Beasts if you can, but now I wish for you to show me your true potential as you have to countless others several times before in the past. Such as when you saved the Uzumaki boy by defeating the one known as Aizen, when you awakened your Tenseigan in the battle against Zabuza Momochi of the Hidden Mist. When you defeated Orochimaru of the Sannin, when you defeated the One Tailed sand tanuki Shukaku and when you claimed your second victory over the Snake Sannin in battle, as well as when you defeated the last survivor of the Kaguya clan without the use of your Tenseigan. When you defeated Kuroga and myself before I was purified of my darkness after our battle, when you defeated the criminal Shiranami and saved the jinchuuriki of the Six Tails. When you created the Rasenshuriken, when you used that new jutsu to defeat the Akatsuki member Kakuzu, when you mastered your Dragon Sage Mode after that, and when you saved the city of Loran from the traitor Anrokuzan after you went back in time 10 years through the power of the ley line. Show me again just as always, I want to feel your potential once more. Prove it with your actions, that is what I want to see from you."

'Well duh, that's what I'm all about.' Tatsu looked up at the Four Tails 'Naruto if you're gonna do something then now would be the time to do it, and knowing you I've already got a pretty good idea of what you're gonna pull out of your ass.'

"MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" sure enough, through use of hundreds of Shadow Clones, Naruto was able to force the Four Tails' mouth open and force him to puke up all of them, including the original "Okay good, I made it out!"

"...You know what's really sad, that's exactly what I had expected from you." Tatsu landed next to him "Okay you know more about fighting a Rinnegan user than I do, what's the plan for taking these things down?"

"Like with each of those Pain bodies that Bushy Brow and I fought against before there's this weird black rod in the back of his neck, it's where those chakra chains restraining him are coming from. They come from something called the Gedo Statue-"

"That can only be used by someone who has the Rinnegan, it's on the back of his neck instead of the chest because they got bigger when they transformed so that would normally make it a lot harder to find."

Tobi by this point had lost any sort of amusement "You just do not know when to give up now do you?"

"So in short we've gotta find the rod and pull it out and then that will stop Tobi's chakra chains from forming." Tatsu checked out the Four Tails and finally noticed the rod "There it is, I can see it behind his left ear." he flashed into his Tenseigan Chakra Mode "I'll cover you now go for that mother f*cker!"

"Right!" Naruto leapt over a fist from the Four Tails and ran up the arm towards the ear only for the Four Tails to reach for him.

Tatsu burst upwards and dealt the hand a sharp spin kick "Go for it dumbass, I'll back you up every step of the way. But just so you know I can't really keep this up for very long so I recommend you, oh I don't know, HURRY THE F*CK UP!"

"Alright alright!" with a burst Naruto flashed back into his Nine Tails Chakra Mode and pulled himself up to the Four Tails' ear where he found the black rod "I gotcha!"

"Do it already, I can feel the chakra infused sweat on this guy's hands!"

"I'm trying, this thing is in there deep!"

"That's what she said." this caused Naruto to jump and fall to the ground with the black rod in hand, and he received a look "What?"

"Did you seriously just make a "That's what she said" joke to get me to pull the rod out of the big guy? What happened to staying focused at all times on the situation at hand?!"

"When the hell did I say that?"

"...Shut up."

"That's what I thought."

"Naruto Uzumaki… Tatsu Kamikaze…" Tobi formed a hand seal and summoned the Gedo Statue 'Dammit, they were able to pull out the rod.'

Tatsu managed to rebound to his feet before he hit the ground and landed gracefully in front of the form of the Four Tails 'Okay Hikar what the hell gives, why isn't the Four Tails moving or fighting back?'

"The Uzumaki boy never said anything about removing the black rod freeing the Four Tails from the control of the masked one because that will not be enough, so long as Tobi holds control over the Gedo Statue the Tailed Beasts in his possession cannot truly be freed of his control. The black rod merely bound the Tailed Beasts to the bodies of their reanimated jinchuuriki, but the actual chakra of the Tailed Beasts themselves is bound to Tobi through the Gedo Statue itself."

'Wait you knew about that but you didn't even bother to say anything? Then that didn't do shit to help them!'

"You are serious aren't you?"

'Of course I am.'

"So you are. I said there was a way to stop the Four Tails but I never said that you would be able to free him from Tobi's clutches."

'Well you should've said that right from the get go, why the hell can you never be more clear and straightforward?'

"Well regardless, the fact is that the Four Tails still belongs to Tobi for the time being and you cannot change that."

'Yeah now you tell me.'

"Tatsu stop spacing out!" Naruto bolted past him and up to Roshi's body, panting heavily after everything that had happened "Dammit, I used up way too much chakra."

"Yeah tell me about it." Tatsu powered back down to his normal form "I doubt I could even enter Sage Mode right now, at this point I'd say we're pretty much f*cked."

"Indeed you are." Tobi looked down on the two of them with nothing but disdain in his cold emotionless eyes "The two of you look like you're about to pass out after stopping just one of the Tailed Beasts at my command, you cannot defy me. You may have lasted longer than I had anticipated but it does not change the inevitable, it is only a matter of time before I take the precious Tailed Beasts and make them my own." he formed a hand seal, causing the five remaining jinchuuriki to fully transform into their Tailed Beast forms.

"Oh crap."

Utakata and Killer B both landed behind the two of them with a very loud thud "Are you two alright?"

"We just took on a Tailed Beast, what the hell do you think?"

"We still have to take on 5 more."

"...We'll call that one a draw. Still though this whole situation sucks no matter how we try to look at it, we've got five more Tailed Beasts to deal with along with that giant statue not to mention Tobi himself and we're all f*cking exhausted. Yep I'd say we're screwed."

"Indeed you are." Tobi looked down on them "No matter how long you fight it will all have been for nothing, you cannot dispute the fact that my fighting ability is far superior to yours."

"Yeah well I say choke on it."

"But why then, you said yourself that you cannot win so why do you insist on being as stubborn as you are?"

"You mean aside from the fact that I have no intention of giving you the satisfaction of making me give up, which would never happen before hell froze over, I have things that I have to protect, promises that I have to keep, and a vow not just to the people that I hold precious, but to myself…"

"Yes, this is the Tatsu Kamikaze that I have been waiting to see. The one with an unbreakable spirit and the power to support it as you charge down the path you believe in all the way to the bitter end."

"I vowed to become the strongest shinobi that this world has ever seen, and I'm not gonna be done in by some piece of trash like you who doesn't even give enough of a damn to remember his own name!" with blue markings appearing around his eyes, Tatsu burst upwards and charged at Tobi at full speed.

Tobi phased through the attack and dealt Tatsu a sharp spin kick, sending him crashing to the ground "Is there no end to your babbling?"

Tatsu coughed up blood as he forced himself onto one knee 'Dammit, I only had enough energy to enter Sage Mode for a few seconds. Now what the hell am I gonna do?'

"Tatsu Kamikaze, do not tell me this is all it takes to intimidate you."

'Again with this Hikari, seriously?'

"Is this all it would take to do you in? I would think not."

'Well of course it isn't, I'm just trying to think of a way to get us out of this.'

"And as always, not a glimpse of giving up evident in your eyes. I stated before that you would have to prove yourself worthy of my power, and now you have so the full power of the Light Dragon is at your disposal."

'I know I should be glad to hear that, but before anything else there's something that I feel like I have to say to you.' he breathed out a deep sigh 'Thanks for giving me power against Madara beforehand, that really bailed my ass out of the fire.'

"Thanks are unnecessary, as I had stated before I would rather have my power be used by you than either the likes of Madara or the Rabbit Goddess. Besides, since you had yet to prove yourself worthy then I was only able to grant you a small portion of my overall power."

'Yeah so then where the hell does that put us right now?'

"That would put us, as you say, right about here." a massive chakra silhouette of a genryu appeared before Tatsu, though nobody else seemed to be able to see it "Before you ask, the others cannot see it because they lack the Tenseigan that you possess." he held out one of his claws "Now you must bond our chakra together as one."

'...Are we really gonna due a chakra tug of war like Naruto and Kurama did before, is this really the time for that?'

"No, all we have to do is have your chakra make contact with my chakra and then my power will forever be linked to yours as long as I allow it."

'Oh. Well in that case…' Tatsu slammed his palm against that of Hikari, and a white colored glow surrounded the two of them 'So what now?'

"Now you do what you always do, fight and win."

With that single sentence in mind, Tatsu turned towards Naruto "So are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Naruto nodded and shot him a smirk "Oh you'd better believe it."

"...You get that one and only that one. Anyway we're up against five Tailed Beasts, we've got two other jinchuuriki on our side but right now they're too badly injured to make that much of a difference. I say that you and I go in together since we're both already in our own two man teams."

"And we've both got crap loads more power to use in spades jammed in our guts?"

"In your gut and in my head, now do you wanna give epic simultaneous internal speeches to our sort of roommates while we both power up to new levels unlike anything else we've ever felt before?"

"Hell yeah!" so Naruto touched his stomach and began twisting it clockwise, mentally undoing the seal in his mind, a golden glow surro

Tatsu powered down his Tenseigan as a white glow began surrounding his body 'You're not a demon like the Nine Tails and you never were, not just because you're a dragon instead of a fox and not just because you're not a Tailed Beast. You are an asset to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and more importantly you're my partner. You are Hikari, the Light Dragon of the great Genryu, and you are my friend. Now come on, let's do this!' the white light completely engulfed his body, and when it disappeared it revealed Tatsu, his body now covered in a white colored chakra cloak with a cape adorning his body, Genryu marks appearing on both of his arms all the way down to his hands, and he smirked "Not to shabby, I think I'm gonna call this Light Dragon Mode. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

"Yeah well it's got nothing on my Tailed Beast Mode." sure enough, Naruto was enveloped in a golden colored chakra cloak, complete with a cape and a black colored pattern across the back of said cloak "I'm still stronger than you."

"Keep dreaming but not right now, take a look over there." Tatsu pointed forward "Come on, we'd better get moving."

"Right."

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Lee and the others, those being Guy, Kakashi and Asuma, were faced with the five Tailed Beasts being controlled by Tobi currently charging five simultaneous Tailed Beast Bombs "This is really bad!"

"Lee keep quiet and don't move, Guy and Asuma that goes for you too as well." Kakashi was quick to activate his Mangekyo Sharingan "I'll blast them all away with my Kamui."

"But Kakashi-sensei that won't work, there's too many of them! Maybe if I were to use the Gate of Death-"

"Don't be foolish, if you do that then it will kill you and even if you do there's no telling whether or not it will actually work."

"Yes but what else can we-" he was cut off by the Tailed Beasts firing off the five Tailed Beast Bombs all at the same time, only for two light colored blurs to appear in front of them and swat the blasts aside "What the- They're so fast."

"Who the hell are-" Kakashi froze when he apparently recognized one of the cloaked figures standing in front of him "S...Sensei?!" he took another look and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head "Is that… Naruto?!"

"And Tatsu! Look over there!" Lee looked over to where the Tailed Beast Bombs all detonated in the distance, obliterating several mountains in the process "They destroyed all of those mountains in an instant, this must be the power of the Tailed Beasts."

'They were able to deflect all of them, well in that case…' Tobi formed a hand seal and sent the Tailed Beasts charging forward at full speed.

"Here they come!"

"You know Lee you weren't wrong, the power of the Tailed Beasts is a pretty magnificent sight to behold." Tatsu suddenly manifested a chakra avatar in the form of a massive white Genryu, with Naruto manifesting his full Tailed Beast Mode avatar as well "But they haven't got a single damn thing on the power of the Light Dragon!" and so the two of them both let out simultaneous shockwaves, sending the other five Tailed Beast reeling from the raw power the two of them were generating.

Lee, Kakashi, Guy and Asuma found themselves sucked into the Light Dragon chakra avatar "I don't understand, what is going on? Are we inside the chakra of the Genryu?"

"Yep you got that right." Tatsu summoned a Shadow Clone and had it begin gathering nature energy in order for it to enter Sage Mode "First things first we have to find out where each of their black rods are located."

"Just so you know, Kurama just told me that we don't have a lot of time." Naruto told him "It's only our first Tailed Beast transformation and the link is kinda weak so we've got about five minutes at the most."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure that's how long I'm gonna last right now too, but considering how high our levels of badass are right now we can do that and make three minute bowls of instant ramen just for the hell of it." and so the two of them charged forward.

"Just so you know I can't be as gentle with all of you as I was with Son (Four Tails) since there are so many of you guys, we'll need you guys to bare with us for now! Tatsu!"

"Right!" Tatsu flew up to meet the Seven Tails, or Chomei as its real name, at eye level and pounced on her and he quickly found the black rod, as well as with the Three Tails, or Isobu as he will now be referred to "I got two of them so far!"

"And I've got this one!" Naruto prepared to pounce on Isobu, only for the arm of his chakra avatar to be caught by Shukaku which left him vulnerable to the next attack, but he managed to grab hold of him before that could happen and even found Shukaku's black rod as he fended off the attack.

"Like I'm letting that happen twice!" Tatsu deal Kokuo (Five Tails) a sharp back kick straight to the face, noticing the black rod located on its leg as it was sent crashing to the ground.

"Tatsu watch your back!" Naruto slammed Shukaku into Matatabi (Two Tails) and found the rod on her back, sending both of the Tailed Beasts flying through the air and crashing to the ground with a loud thud "Okay Tatsu we've got every last one of those rods!"

"Good god it feels like we're dominating in an all out monster smackdown! This is the greatest day of my life!"

'They're both doing far better than I had anticipated, if I want to win then I'll have to come at them with the intent to kill.' Tobi formed a hand seal which caused the Tailed Beasts to regroup and charge five simultaneous Tailed Beast Balls, which then combined into one massive Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Okay that looks pretty big and so they're clearing pooling all of their power into one single attack, you wanna get this one or can I?"

"You hang back Tatsu, this is a jinchuuriki thing." Naruto started charging up a Tailed Beast Bomb of his own just as big as the one being charged by the others.

"So one just as big to cancel theirs out? Fight fire with a bigger fire, I approve. You've gotten really strong stupid."

"I learned from the best. TAILED BEAST BOMB!" Naruto fired off his full power Tailed Beast Bomb, clashing against the other one, the force blowing shockwaves across the battlefield as if they were a tidal wave before finally cancelling each other out in the massive explosion that followed.

'He aimed it low so the impact would propell both blasts into the air and detonate them out of harm's way. Well what do you know, he did learn a few things from me. Oh crap I think that's my cue.' Tatsu extended out several chakra arms, grabbing the Tailed Beasts by the black rods imbedded into their bodies and sending out a number of Shadow Clones to grab onto them and get ready to pull them out "Alright Hikari I'm ready, we're gonna free these guys and we'll do it all at once. You baring with me?"

"I am, but for now it is you who must bare with me."

"What the hell are you-"

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Tatsu suddenly found himself in what looked like a sky blue colored void, with Hikari sitting right behind him and the other five Genryu sitting directly in front of him "What the hell is going on? All five of you Genryu are here? Jishin the Earth Genryu, Kaiyo the Water Genryu, Kaen the Fire Genryu, Tatsumaki the Wind Genryu, and Sanda the Lightning Genryu."

"So you do remember our names." Kaen let out a grunt "Not to mention that you actually did come here, we've been waiting for about a year now."

"This is like the thing that I did back at the Waterfall of Truth."

"In a manner of speaking yes, but not quite the same." Kaiyo told him "This time around you did manage to make it all the way to this plain of existence this time around, just as that man had foretold."

"So then why couldn't I come here before?"

"Because you were not ready back then." Hikari told him "Now that you have proven yourself fully worthy of my power you are able to enter much deeper on the Draconic psychee plane compared to before. As the holder of my power, you can meet with the other five Genryu dragons freely and only a span of microseconds will have passed in the real world."

"I don't really get it but you're saying that no time has passed outside while we're beating the ever loving crap out of five Tailed Beasts."

"You are an amusing one." Sanda let out a chuckle "What do you know Hikari you were right, he does have a certain charm to his spirit."

"You guys have talked to each other before in here?"

"Constantly, whenever you use the Dragon Blade we all get together in here and see how you use it in battle through our connection via the Dragon Orbs that you took from us over a year ago."

"...You're not gonna want those back are you?"

"No."

"Okay good."

"Enough with the small talk." Tatsumaki cut into their conversation "You know there is a reason why Hikari was so interested in you to begin with."

"And what is that exactly?"

"That you are the one that HE had mentioned the last time we saw him over 1,000 years ago."

"Who's he?"

"Silence all of you, that's more than enough." Hikari shut them up "Tatsu Kamikaze, they do talk far more than they should."

"Story of my life."

"As I have seen."

"But either way I'm just glad you guys can get together like this whenever you want, call it sappy if you want but I think friends should stick together whenever they can. I know that I'd wanna do the same with Naruto, Sasuke, Lee and all of the others."

"Yes that may be the case but that is only because you had claimed the Dragon Blade when you did." Kaiyo pointed out "This Tatsu Kamikaze, this is all thanks to you. Please step forward and extend your hand, the time has come to fulfill our promise to HIM. Also, please remember our names. I am Kaiyo."

"The Genryu of Water, the second on that I met."

"And I am Jishin." the Earth Genryu spoke.

"The Genryu of Earth, the first one that I met."

"I am Kaen." the Fire Genryu spoke.

"The Genryu of Fire, the third one that I met."

"I am Tatsumaki." the Wind Genryu spoke.

"The Genryu of Wind, the fourth one that I met."

"I am Sanda." the Lightning Genryu spoke.

"The Genryu of Lightning, the last one I met before my battle with Hikari."

"And just by confirming your knowledge of our true names, you have proven yourself to all of them." Hikari placed his claw down in front of Tatsu, with the other 5 Genryu all doing the same on top of his.

Tatsu slowly stepped forward and touched their palms with his "Tell me, who is this one that you keep talking about?"

"One of the two men responsible for vanquishing the horrifying Rabbit Goddess herself, he stated that he was going to leave this world to watch over it from a distance and protect it from afar, but before he did he wanted to make sure that while he was gone and his beliefs died out, there was at least one person who would stand to protect this world and all of its people. He formed a bond with each one of us and used his powers combined with ours to forge the Dragon Blade you carry with you, and before he would forever depart from the lands of Mount Koryu he foretold that one day there would be another worthy of our majestic power, one that would unite us against a great threat and helps us to guide this world and its people down the path that it was supposed to take. I could sense it from the first moment that I saw you, Tatsu Kamikaze you are the one that that man had spoken of long ago."

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Tatsu suddenly snapped back to reality, and with a mighty roar he pulled out the black rods from the Tailed Beasts as hard as he could, freeing them to an extent 'Thank you all, I promise I will not let your faith in me go to waste.' his Light Dragon Mode dissipated and he returned to the ground, back in his normal form.

"Not bad Tatsu, you did good with them." Naruto landed beside him back in his own normal form, with Lee, Asuma, Guy and Kakashi all standing right behind them.

"What can I say, people had faith in me so I couldn't disappoint them now."

"I never expected you to be able to completely control the Nine Tails Naruto." Tobi noted, his tone stoic but still disdainful "Nor did I expect Tatsu to completely control the power of the Genryu dragon spirits, however it would appear that you still cannot maintain it for very long so nothing has changed in the long run." he formed a hand seal and proceeded to drag the Tailed Beasts back into the Gedo Statue.

"That's where you're wrong Tobi, things aren't the same as they used to be." Tatsu drew the Dragon Blade off of his back, with Naruto gripping his stomach where his seal was "Not anymore at least, I just got reminded of six really important names and Naruto himself just learned nine new ones." this was met with Naruto nodding in agreement.

"Difficult names you say, and what pray tell would those be? What does that even have to do with any of this?"

"Oh so you really didn't know anything about that did you? Well forget it pretty boy, we're not gonna tell you jack shit!"

Guy watched them in awe and gave a small fond smile "Wow look at those boys go, they've gained so much experience and strength that it frankly makes me feel quite old and feeble right about now."

"What's the matter with you Guy-sensei? You're not being yourself, this is so out of character for you of all people." Lee stepped up to join Naruto and Tatsu "I know you're going to start crying when I say this but the Springtime of your Youth is far from over, and besides you and the others still have a lot of work to do."

"...You know you're right, on both of those accounts." and sure enough he was crying waterfalls worth of anime tears.

"And there it is." Lee took a taijutsu stance alongside Naruto and Tatsu "Team Dragon is here and ready to fight!"

"You're damn right we are." Tatsu drew his Dragon Blade off of his back, with Naruto drawing his Crimson Death as well, all three of them sharing the same look in their eyes: A burning desire to win.

'Those expressions that they all share…' forcing himself not to flinch, Tobi reached to draw his Gunbai fan off of his back, only to notice himself sweating through his robe 'Could I actually be perspiring?' this was followed by rain pouring down on the battlefield 'No that couldn't possibly be it, it's just the rain. Fools like these could never hope to make me sweat. They were all merely a group of pawns in grand scheme of things, these brats are only supposed to be a mere amusement. I had always known what his limits were going to be, there is no way that even their powers combined could be pushing me as hard as this. So what is it then, what is happening to me? No forget it, it does not matter. It doesn't matter what these fools are now, after this war is over there will be no past and no future. Nothing that exists now will matter then, not one single thing.'

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At the same time, Tatsu's use of his new Light Dragon Mode and Naruto's use of his new Tailed Beast Mode were felt all the way from the Allied Shinobi Force's HQ, along with something else as well.

Once Ao had relayed these events to him, Shukaku decided to use it to raise the moral of the entire Allied Shinobi Forces at once, despite the strain it put on communications by Inoichi as he did so.

With the message engraved in their minds, everyone on every front rushed towards the main battlefield, intent on supporting Naruto, Tatsu and the others to the bitter end.

The battle for the fate of the Shinobi World was about to begin…

A/N:

So with the climax of the war, this is when Tatsu takes the next step in reaching his full power, the same with Naruto, the former unlocking his Light Dragon Mode, which is basically his equivalent of the Tailed Beast Mode in terms of transformation and power. Don't worry, it will make perfect sense once I explain the origins of the Genryu. As soon as I come up with it, though if you guys wouldn't mind pitching me some ideas I would really appreciate it.

Hisen, Shibuki's father, being the previous jinchuuriki of the Seven Tails before Fu was an idea that I came up with as I was writing this chapter, I needed a sixth former jinchuuriki for Tobi's Six Paths of Pain so I thought that would be the best fit.

I made another one of Tobi's Six Paths of Pain out of Bunpuku, the monk that was the jinchuuriki of Shukaku before Gaara, to add up to six, since Utakata is still alive and Tobi had never captured the Three Tails.

I wasn't sure about what to do with Asuma or the Adamantine Nyoi summon that I mentioned during the Adventure At Sea chapter, especially since I couldn't really put very much original material into the last chapter, but this one had a lot more freedom for originality, hence why I included Lee and Asuma.

I skipped the scene where Naruto talks to Son Goku because we already know what happens there, and I made up for it by having Hikari give that talk to Tatsu while he was fighting off the Tailed Beasts. The same happens with all of the Genryu spirits appearing before Tatsu and think of him as the one that HE told them about. No the he is not the Sage of the Six Paths, it's another he that I will mention later on. It's someone that I think had more potential that hadn't been explored in the canon series so I want to expand on that person at least a little bit.

Just so you know, next chapter will focus mainly, if not entirely, on Kazuma, Sasuke and Itachi fighting against Kabuto in an effort to stop the Reanimation Jutsu, which would in turn stop the real Madara and bring them that much closer to ending the war. Well they're half right.