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.

35. Orochimaru's Return, Tobi's Revelation

(Orochimaru's Return, Tobi's Identity Revealed)

Suigetsu studied the immobile form of Kabuto, still trapped in an illusion that Itachi had created through use of Izanami "So you're telling me that this is Kabuto now? He looks kind of gross to be honest, and that thing sticking out of his gut looks like some kind of gigantic-"

"Just leave him alone Suigetsu, and please for the love of the Sage of the Six Paths do not finish that sentence." Sasuke promptly cut him off.

Jugo on the other hand was more curious about where Anko Mitarashi, having been previously captured by Kabuto before the war began, lay on the floor of the cave "This woman, she's still alive."

"I'll deal with her myself but we have other things to worry about right now. Why did the two of you come out of your way to look for me after all this time? I returned to the Hidden Leaf, I was pardoned for deserting the way that I did and now I'm a jonin but I hadn't heard from the two of you since before my battle with Itachi. So why now, when I'm trying to help to end a war that has literally the entire world involved."

"Oh yeah that's the thing, we were going through one of Orochimaru's old hideouts and we found something totally incredible."

"And?"

"Earlier you said that you, Itachi and Kazuma had all joined forces to stop Kabuto and his Reanimation Jutsu didn't you?" Jugo pointed out, receiving messages from various birds from the surrounding area.

"Yeah that's right."

"But if it really worked the way that it was supposed to work then why is Madara still bound to this world?"

Sasuke froze "So what does that mean then, none of the reanimated shinobi had been returned to the afterlife?"

"Actually from what the birds tell me all of the rest of them have, Madara is the only one left at this point."

"I see, he must've found a way around it."

"Hey Jugo can't you see that I'm the one talking to Sasuke, don't interrupt me. Anyway the hell with all of that right about now, check out what we found in that hideout." he handed Sasuke a certain scroll.

Sasuke examined the contents and was nearly left speechless "This is…"

"See what did I tell you, it's totally amazing isn't it? With a scroll like this the Hebi team can screw with the outcome of the war, hell we can take over the entire shinobi world."

"This is it, this is what I need to find the answers that I seek."

"What?"

"Thank you for bringing this to me Suigetsu, Jugo, but now I need to go meet up with someone else who can help me find the answers that I seek."

"What do you mean who?"

"The one person who can help me. Orochimaru."

"...WHAT?! What the hell are you talking about Sasuke? Orochimaru is long dead, you killed him yourself like a year ago! I wanted you to use the scroll to-"

"Get it through your head Suigetsu, I couldn't care less about world domination. Besides, do you really think that it's possible that someone as tenacious Orochimaru could really be killed as easily as that? Of course I still find him vile and repulsive but right now there's something that I have to do and he's the only person who can help me to do that. I have to go and see those who know everything."

"I don't get it, how can you talk to Orochimaru and who exactly are these all knowing dudes you wanna see anyway?"

"That's not something that someone as annoying and obnoxious as you needs to know about at the moment."

"...You know what f*ck it, I don't get any of this but it doesn't really matter. Anyway you can't meet up with Orochimaru because he must never be revived. You're planning on asking him for help with controlling the power of the scroll aren't you? But you don't have to, I know better than anyone else that you can do it on your own. I mean that's why I went out of my way to look for you Sasuke and that's why I'm choosing to give the scroll to you."

"Regardless of whatever you may believe, there are still things that have to be done at the moment and Orochimaru is the only person who can do them."

"Sasuke just listen to me, you were Orochimaru's favorite weren't you? You were his star pupil before, so why the hell can't you do it-"

"Suigetsu!" his tone was sharp "Don't. Just don't."

"What?"

"Don't underestimate Orochimaru of all people, that kind of mistake can and most likely will prove to be fatal."

"What?! You idiot I don't underestimate that guy in the slightest, if anything you're the one who does so it's exactly the opposite! The only reason that you defeated Orochimaru was because both of his arms had been rendered useless by the Reaper Death Seal, you've always underestimated him! You know even if he is revived somehow he probably still won't be able to use his arms but he'll still be dangerous, he's gonna come after your body again! If he finds out about this war then he's gonna become part of it, he wants to destroy the Hidden Leaf more than anything you know and that means that we're all gonna get all mixed up in this war along with all of that! Is that what you want?! We've only now surpassed our mentors, this is supposed to be our time to shine! Look the fact here is that no one wants to see Orochimaru ever again and I think I speak for just about everyone when I say that he's caused all of us more than enough trouble as it is-"

"Suigetsu! Shut up!" Sasuke finally lost his patience with Suigetsu's ranting "Please just work with me on this, I need you to go dig out a piece of Kabuto's flesh and bring it over here for me to use."

"Hold on a second, you don't listen to me but for whatever reason you expect me to listen to you?"

"Yeah, it's never stopped you before." this was followed by Jugo pretty much being like "F*ck it" and going over to get the piece of Kabuto's flesh himself.

"So that's how it's gonna be then is it? Tell me something Jugo, are you yourself really sure about all of this? You want Orochimaru to be brought back to life?"

"I don't mind it if it's what Sasuke wants, the will of Sasuke is the will that he had once shared with Kimimaro and I will abide by it." so Jugo used his abilities to dig out some of Kabuto's modified flesh.

"You know you're the same as always, and what in the name of hell are you doing to him anyway?"

"The people of my village refer to this as Sage Transformation, just like my original transformation but in all my copies it's called what you know as the Curse Mark Transformation." he brought the flesh over to and put it on top of Anko's Curse Mark, causing it to merge with her skin "Like this?"

"That will work, thank you." Sasuke reflected for a moment on the events at Mount Koryu 'Let's see, Kazuma used what he called the Curse Sealing, so then the reverse must be this.' he formed several hand seals "Curse Unsealing!" he placed his hand down on Anko's Curse Mark and pulled out a snake "No need to make things dramatic, just come on out… Orochimaru."

Sure enough, Orochimaru emerged from within the snake, thoroughly freaking Suigetsu the f*ck out, his voice soft "Who would ever have imagined, of all the people in this world I would never have been able to predict that you would be the one to facilitate my return."

Suigetsu then proceeded to hide behind Kabuto "Oh hey there how's it going, been one hell of a long time hasn't it?"

"...That's Kabuto isn't it?" Orochimaru let out a chuckle "He turned out to be such a disappointment."

"Enough with the Creepypastas Orochimaru, it's time for us to get to the reason why I brought you back here." Sasuke told him "There's something that I want you to do for me."

"There's no need for you to bother explaining it. I've been watching everything this whole time from inside of Anko, I secured my Sage Jutsu chakra into those Curse Marks and as a result each one has been made into a single piece of my very own consciousness."

"So I take it that means that you already know about the war as well."

"Of course I know about the war, and for the record Suigetsu in regards to that there is only one thing that I have to tell you. And that is that I have no interest in this war." this left Suigetsu gaping at him in pure disbelief "After all this war involves someone else and right now there is only one thing that interests me, and that is obtaining the body of my dear Sasuke. Yes that's right, but then again it's not as if I currently possess the strength to steal it away from you at the moment now do I?"

"And I can't help but wonder about that." Suigetsu muttered.

"And I'm sure that you do." Orochimaru glanced back at Sasuke "Tell me Sasuke, what exactly is your intention in meeting with them of all people?"

"There are things that I need to know." Sasuke told him "There is too much that I don't know and I can't make a definite decision, not as I am right now. I plan to meet with those people and ask them everything."

"Everything you say? There's no need to know it all Sasuke, not yet at least. After all you are still a child."

"That's where you're wrong Orochimaru, I can't afford to stay a child. Before I return to where I'm needed, I need to understand what discovered all of this, to find out what it is that I'm supposed to me and what it is that this world wants me to do."

"Are you questioning your resolve Sasuke?"

"If you mean my resolve to protect those I hold dear but not from the shadows like my brother did then no, after reuniting with Itachi and Kazuma in that battle. But even after all that they did to him, even in death Itachi called himself a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf and let that be one of the reasons why he allowed Kazuma to resurrect him. What I want is to understand how he could even think of doing that. Who was, or is, Itachi Uchiha? What does it mean to be part of a village? What does it mean to be part of a clan? That is why I have to know everything so that I can finally have the answers that I need, I need to see and decide for myself what it is that I'm supposed to do."

Orochimaru studied Sasuke for a moment 'He is no longer the boy that Itachi and I, that Tobi and Kazuma, had both spent so long manipulating.' he made his way over to Kabuto and put a hand on his shoulder 'What a strange sensation. You know something Sasuke, the current you isn't half bad." he then proceeded to absorb his own chakra from within Kabuto, turning him back into his normal form.

'He undid Kabuto's Sage Transformation and took back his own chakra that Kabuto had taken from him.'

"Very well then, I suppose I may as well help you out. Come along."

"And just where do you plan on taking us?"

"To a place that you should actually know quite well. Now then, shall we be on our way?"

"Fine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The situation on the main battlefield had turned grim as the Gedo Statue was beginning to transform, having received the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts.

"This is bad." Guy muttered "That statue has been acting weird since it swallowed those objects earlier."

"Yeah I know, it doesn't make any sense-" Tatsu suddenly froze "Oh crap no, don't tell me that…"

"Yes that's right, you guess correctly." Tobi continued to form the same hand seal "Watch closely and surrender yourself completely, for the time has come for the Ten Tails to return to this failed world and the beginning of the end for this world!"

"So that's it then, the Gedo Statue was the actual body of the Ten Tails."

"Hold on a second, what's he talking about?" asked Naruto "What the hell is the Ten Tails?"

"But what the hell is going on, back when he declared war at the Five Kage Summit he said that the whole purpose of this war was to collect the chakra of the other three Tailed Beasts in order to revive the Ten Tails but you and the others are all still alive and you still have your Tailed Beasts so how could this be possible? Don't be careless guys, one wrong step could and most likely will cost you your life."

"Yeah, I might've had a hand in that." Killer B admitted "The guy got a bit of Eight-O's chakra from back in the day, and now we're majorly sweating cause the holmes is here to stay so it's not a-okay."

"So that means that just a small piece of the chakra of a Tailed Beast is enough for this thing to work for him?"

"Tatsu, I am aware that you felt it as well. The statue already held a small but reasonable portion of the Eight Tails and Six Tails' chakra, and that large gourd that was absorbed by the statue."

'Yeah it's kind of hard to not notice, so what the hell do we do now? Fight to the death, because frankly I'm all for that one.'

"And now the Nine Tails, or Kurama as you know him, is about to speak through the Uzumaki boy. Let me take over as well."

'...Yeah okay.'

"All of you listen to what I have to say." and then Hikari took over Tatsu's body "All that the Gedo Statue needs is a simple portion of the chakra of a Tailed Beast and that will be more than sufficient. That statue already holds a piece of the chakra of the Six Tails, the Eight Tails and the Nine Tails in it. The jar and gourd the one known as Tobi summoned and then fed to the statue were two of the treasured tools of the Sage of the Six Paths, they possess very powerful sealing jutsu that can seal away next to anything. Once one is inside escape is virtually impossible unless you are released from the outside. Sealed inside of the jar and the gourd were Kinkaku and Ginkaku of the Hidden Cloud respectively, I suspect that they were brought back to this world using the Reanimation Jutsu used by the one that you refer to as Kabuto Yakushi and then sealed away using those objects, and after the jutsu had been released their chakra persisted inside of them."

"Kinkaku and Ginkaku and the Sage of the Six Paths, sure those are all names that we consider to be legendary." Asuma pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world "But what do any of them have to do with the chakra of the Nine Tails?"

"There was a time many years ago when the brothers challenged me to a battle with the intent of capturing me." explained Kurama "I was easily bored by the two of them and annoyed by their attitudes and simply devoured the two of them on the spot. However they were able to survive and fed on me from the inside and in doing so they ended up absorbing some of my chakra as a result."

"So then Kinkaku and Ginkaku both possessed some of your chakra and the guy in the mask took the two of them from the First Division led by Darui after the two of them had already been sealed away as an insurance policy for reviving the Ten Tails." Kakashi noted "That's consistent with the report that was sent to us by HQ."

"Exactly but since they're little more than fragments of the chakra from myself and the other Tailed Beasts there's no way to tell what form the revived Ten Tails is going to end up taking."

"Then we've gotta take that thing down before its resurrection is complete."

"You know something Kakashi, you speak your mind far easier than you should." Tobi's tone was incredibly condescending "You are a man for whom a life of regret, shame and failure is far too fitting."

"Then tell us something you bastard." Asuma brandished his Adamantine Nyoi staff and chakra blade trench knives as brown markings and white markings appeared around his eyes and cheeks respectively "Just who in the name of hell are you?"

"I see little to no point in telling someone as insignificant as you Asuma Sarutobi."

"Kakashi, you said that if we're going to make a move then now would be the best time to do it." Hikari noted "A great man that the Genryu had come to respect had once stated to us that that the full revival of the Ten Tails may very well by a symbol for the end of this world as you know it."

"So what does that mean then?" asked Lee "Is the Ten Tails as terrible as you and the others claim it to be? He's a Tailed Beast sure but just how powerful could this creature possibly be?"

"Far more powerful than you can possibly imagine Rock Lee. The Ten Tails is the aggregate of the chakra of all of the Tailed Beasts from the One Tailed Shukaku all the way to the Nine Tails. It was the origin of chakra in this world aside from myself and the rest of my Genryu brethren, and it was a creator god of many nations. The creature is known by many names, it drank the oceans, it split open the very Earth itself and shattered the very mountains. Your kind claims that it was the creator of this very land. To put it so simply that even your sensei could understand, it has the power of all nine Tailed Beasts combined and amplified to a significant extent. None of the Tailed Beasts or even myself or the rest of the Genryu alone could take it on by ourselves and have even a shred of hope for victory against it."

"It's that powerful?"

"And even moreso. However, if it only has a small portion of the chakra of the Tailed Beast chakra from within the Six Tails, the Eight Tails and the Nine Tails, three of the most powerful of the nine then we have a considerably higher chance of victory."

"I'm afraid that you are gravely mistaken noble dragon spirit, I have no need for the Ten Tails to be revived at its full capacity." Tobi dropped that little bombshell and received a number of shocked looks from the three jonin present "My end goal is a super genjutsu in the form of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, I will put the entire human population of this planet under a single genjutsu and transport them to a single world that belongs to no one. It will be one perfect world without war or ill feelings, only within a single collective consciousness when individuality has been cast aside can truth be found. There is no longer a need for hope in this world or a future or any famous heroes, it matters not if it's incomplete for once the Ten Tails has been revived the jutsu of the Infinite Tsukuyomi can be achieved and then reality will come to an end and then all that will exist is a single unending dream that will last for all of eternity."

"You really think we're gonna by into that bullshit?" that was when Tatsu took back control of his body, with Naruto doing the same "I've got too many promises that I have to keep to my mother, to my brother, to Hayate-sensei, to Ino and to everyone else that I care about. Kids love looking up to their heroes and that's why the likes of me, Naruto, Sasuke and Lee, the four members of Team Dragon, can run forward without having to bother to hesitate. And I know that that's why Naruto Uzumaki, the future Sixth Hokage, will become the greatest Hokage the Hidden Leaf has ever seen, and I myself will become the strongest shinobi this entire world has ever seen. To see those things happen are my dream and I have no intention of giving up on them any time soon you weak hearted dumbass!"

Guy gave a small smile at this "Even if you don't want your youth to come to an end you still have to reach an end at some point, dreams have to be fulfilled one way or another."

"Yeah what the freak said."

"You truly are foolish." Tobi let out a scoff "All individuality is good for is making people lose sight of the truth, my words as a nobody are words that are guided by the absolute truth of the world."

"You wanna bet!" Tatsu and Naruto both flashed into their Tenseigan Chakra Cloak and Nine Tails Chakra Cloak respectively, with Lee opening the Sixth Gate, and the three of them all charged at the Gedo Statue at full speed.

However, Tobi threw Gunbai up into the air and used it to deflect their attacks, sending them three of them hurtling towards the ground, but they managed to rebound "The likes of you three will not dare to touch the statue!"

"I guess ripping that mask off of your face is gonna have to come first then, and then we'll beat the shit out of the statue." Tatsu glanced over at Naruto and Lee "You guys already know about his abilities right? The best chance for us is to use that instant that he tries to pull us in, that's when he's gonna become solid. Trying to attack him normally will just end with us passing right through him, which means that we have to go for a counter attack. Diversionary tactics, use close combat in order to create an opening, avoid using any big moves in order to conserve your chakra for when the fight is about to get serious."

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind." Kakashi leapt onto Utakata's back while he was still transformed into his Six Tailed form.

'I think it's best if we avoid any direct attacks.' Lee and Guy both reached into their bags and pulled out pairs of nunchaku, the former powering down from his Eight Gates in order to preserve chakra.

"Now let's go!" Tatsu and Naruto both charged in with Rasengans charged and ready for action, with Kakashi activating his Mangekyo Sharingan, Lee and Guy preparing to unleash their nunchaku and Asuma brandishing his Adamantine Nyoi staff, and the two charged at Tobi at full speed.

However, Tobi phased right through their attacks with ease "Is that all? You're such disappointments." he reached for Naruto and prepared to capture him using his Teleportation Jutsu.

Lee and Guy both took this chance to attempt to strike Tobi with their nunchaku, forcing him to divert his focus in his intangibility jutsu 'Yes we did it, and just in the nick of time too by the looks of it.' they continued to attack Tobi in a relentless assault, only to end up eventually passing right through him while being forced to defend themselves against Tobi's attacks with things like kunai and shuriken.

"So be it then." Tobi eventually phased through their attacks with ease "I suppose I'll have to deal with the two of you first." just as he finished phasing through the nunchaku attacks he reached for Guy and prepared to phase through him, only to have to phase through another attack from Lee, so instead he prepared to attack using his Gunbai, only for both of them to end up blocking it.

'Okay, I think that I finally generated enough chakra to use for this jutsu. Sorry about this guys but I have to go for… the Gedo Statue! Kamui!" having gathered enough chakra to use his Mangekyo Sharingan, Kakashi attacked the Gedo Statue using his Kamui 'All I have to do is gouge out its head and then it shouldn't be able to survive, statue or no statue!' he continued to attempt to gouge out its head.

"No!" Tobi used the Gunbai in order to pull himself forward and undo Kakashi's Kamui in order to save the Gedo Statue "You know Kakashi you really are so naive aren't you?"

Kakashi fell to one knee from pure chakra exhaustion, blood pouring out of his left eye and his mind racing 'What… What the hell just happened?'

"I gotcha!" Asuma charged at Tobi and brought down his Adamantine Nyoi staff, only to end up seeing Tobi vanish into thin air 'Well that's just great, he just up and vanished?'

"You cannot escape me!" Tobi materialized in front of Naruto and began chasing him through mid air amongst the rubble, eventually managing to catch him with his Gunbai.

"Naruto hang on!" both Tatsu and Lee charged forward, only to see Kakashi charge forward with a lightning infused kunai, having been hurled forward by Utakata 'He was able to cut through the rubble using his Lightning Blade, not too shabby for an old geezer Kakashi.'

'Dammit, I'm not gonna make it in time! Lightning Blade!" within a moment of pure desperation, Kakashi hurled his kunai forward as fast and as hard as he could, forcing Tobi to phase through it "Naruto just keep going, I'll take care of the kunai!"

"Right!" so Naruto reached for Tobi using his chakra arms while Kakashi warped the kunai away through use of his Kamui.

Tobi phased right through his attacks with clear ease "The definition of insanity is doing something the exact same way over and over again while expecting a different result." his tone was mocking and condescending.

"Dammit he's really strong and I can't get any of my attacks to hit him!" Naruto was forced out of his Nine Tails Chakra Mode.

"Naruto!" Tatsu landed next to him, with Lee and Kakashi doing the same "How are you holding up, you alright?"

"Yeah I guess but nothing that we do is good enough so what in the name of hell are we supposed to do?"

"You're asking the wrong guy, I don't have any experience fighting a guy with the Rinnegan or else I'd be kicking him in the-" Tatsu paused when he noticed something "What the hell, how did that happen?"

"What is it?"

"Take a close look at the guy, there's some kind of crack in his mask." this was followed by all of the rubble crashing to the ground "So what does that mean then, did my earlier attack manage to hit the guy right before he was able to pass through it? Yeah that's awesome, now I feel like we might be able to get somewhere against this asshole!"

"No I don't think that's it, to be honest it didn't look to me like that attack of yours had landed in any sort of way."

"So what does that mean then, was it something else that did that to him?"

"Judging by the appearance of that crack it doesn't look like it came from an attack as heavy as yours, it had to have been carved by something pretty sharp."

"YOU'RE WIDE OPEN!" Killer B and Utakata both charged at the Gedo Statue and attempted to attack it.

"Do not dare to mock me! Uchiha Flame Formation!" Tobi slammed his hand into the ground and created a flaming barrier surrounding the Gedo Statue, causing both Killer B and Utakata to burn themselves on it.

"HOT HOT HOT!" they both reeled in pain from the flames that were covering parts of their bodies.

"Well that sucks." Tatsu muttered "Now we can't get through that barrier unless we can take down the prick in the mask first. God I feel like we're in an episode of Scooby Doo, the anime addition."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Naruto "No you know what f*ck it, taking that asshole down has been the plan right from the get go."

Kakashi on the other hand was analyzing Tobi, his mind racing 'I thought so but… no, it can't be… Except that I had never heard of anything that could stop the Kamui, but if that chip that formed in the side of his mask was because of the lightning infused kunai that I used my Kamui on beforehand then that means that the ninjutsu that he's using must be… No Kakashi you have to get a grip. There's no use in just thinking about it. A theory like that could be considered as something plausible but it's just as possible at the same time. Alright everyone listen up for a second, there's something that I want to test out for a minute so I'm going to need you to lend me a hand.

"I understand where you're coming from." so Utakata picked up Kakashi, Tatsu and Lee and on one of his tails and hurled the three of them forward.

"Split up!" so Lee went on straight forward while the other two and burst clear through a massive boulder in his way, shattering it with only his fists.

Tobi looked on as the rubble began to rain down "Your destructive power is quite impressive, as is your mastery of taijutsu."

"How do you like that?!" Lee whipped out his nunchaku and began to attack Tobi like a wild maniac "You don't have a chance to pull me in now do you?!" and yet his attacks were continuously phasing through him.

That is, until Tobi got tired of his shit and grabbed both nunchaku "And you continuously underestimate what the Sharingan is capable of, I can read your movements. I believe that I will keep these for now." he prepared to warp them away.

'So he becomes solid when he absorbs certain objects. Now Tatsu, now's your chance!"

'What?!'

"Rasengan!" that was when Tatsu burst forward clad in his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak and hurled a Rasengan forward.

"Do you still not understand how futile such a thing is?" Tobi phased through the Rasengan and reached for Tatsu, only for it to be warped away by Kakashi's Kamui before either of them was able to make contact, which was followed by a sudden explosion on Tobi's arm, blowing him away and blowing the arm off of his cloak.

"Way to kick some major ass on this one Kakashi, now we finally landed an attack on this asshole."

"...I see what you did there, it wasn't that Tatsu undid his Rasengan before I was able to warp it away but that Kakashi had made use of his Kamui to send the Rasengan away in order to catch me by surprise. Am I correct in my analysis?"

"It's just as I had suspected." Kakashi noted "I had originally hypothesized that you had been using to entirely different jutsu, only to slip through things and another in order to pull things in or take them out. But I was wrong, as it turns out you're using just one single jutsu."

"Are you sure that it's just one?" asked Asuma.

"No doubt about it."

"Well I can't think of anyone better than you when it comes to the breakdown and analysis of any jutsu. We're gonna need you to explain it to us quickly, knowing exactly what this jutsu is and how it works is gonna be critical."

"The gist of is jutsu is actually pretty simple, you see the jutsu that he uses to pull things in and the one where he slips are both his transportation technique."

"And how exactly did you manage to figure that out?" asked Tatsu.

"Let me try and explain this in order in a way that Guy could understand. First that crack that appeared in his mask was from the kunai that I used before in my Lightning Blade jutsu, it's the only thing that could've caused it."

"And what about that wound on his right arm, was that one caused by my Rasengan earlier or what?"

"Yes that's right, and what those two things have in common is that they both involve areas of his body that were overlapping and made contact with your body while you were slipping through him. Also there's one other thing that the two have in common and that is that-"

"That you had warped both of them away using your Kamui."

"And to put it simply I can deduce from all of this that his transportation technique and the space time manipulation of my Kamui are linked."

"So what does that mean then, are there two sets of Mangekyo Sharingan that can use Kamui like that? Or are all Sharingan warping techniques are linked like that?"

"No that's not the case, my suspicion is that the link is only between him and me."

"So then why did that lightning kunai and my Rasengan land on the guy but Naruto couldn't land a simple punch? Even with a link between space time it should still be impossible to hit guy who can slip through everything like that."

"Except that our theory that he slips through things is wrong. Yes it does look like our attacks are slipping right through him but in reality he was transporting himself into time space, but only the parts of his body that would've been struck by those attacks."

"Meaning that when Naruto's punch slipped through him he was sending that part of his face into the time space dimension of Kamui and what we saw was some sort of dematerialized manifestation as a result? And then almost simultaneously you hurled that kunai into that time space dimension using Kamui so as a result it struck his mask and left that crack in it, and once he tried to grab me you warped away my Rasengan you warped that away and it burned his arm as a result."

"Exactly, glad to see that you're keeping up with my deductions. Not many are capable of something like that."

"But then why is your Mangekyou Sharingan linked to his?"

"I can only think of one explanation." Kakashi took this chance to round on Tobi "Tell me, just where did you obtain that eye?"

"Where you ask?" Tobi got back to his feet and then let out a bitter chuckle "Well that's actually quite simple, you see during the Third Great Ninja War if I dare to say so, during the battle of Kannabi Bridge. That was the same battle where you earned your nickname Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan Eye."

Kakashi suddenly froze "Wait a second, you couldn't be…"

"I thought I told you not to flap your mouth so readily, you have sunk so low as to become nothing more than talk! Your words are as worthless as they are meaningless! The time for regrets has long since passed, reality just continues to move forward in such a cruel way and you have seen reality so you ought to know very well that not one wish ever gets granted in this miserable excuse for a world and that is why my main goal is to guide it into the dream that comes with the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I shall create a world where it will not be necessary for a hero to make such pathetic excuses in front of a grave as you have."

Kakashi began sweating 'No… it can't be… it just can't be…'

"Take it easy Kakashi, you've gotta get a grip." Tatsu and Naruto both stepped forward "And as for you, for f*ck's sake how long do you have to keep yakking on before you finally shut the hell up? We told you before that we're not gonna quit. Naruto's dream is to become Hokage, Lee's dream is to become the greatest taijutsu master in the world and my dreams are to see their dreams become reality and for me to become the strongest shinobi the world has ever seen. And besides, I have way too many promises that I have to keep to give up now."

"Keeping promises? Making your dreams come true?" Tobi let out a scoff "But then tell me something Tatsu Kamikaze, Naruto Uzumaki, what if you were to lose the things that were entrusted to you by your dearly departed sensei and your dear big brother, or Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage? I wonder what all of them would ever think about such a thing, after all if you were to fail at the things that you had been entrusted with and I even wonder what you would think of yourselves as well. You simply postpone dealing with problems and then cover them up with the word hope and then all that awaits you is empty reality, both those entrusted things and those they were entrusted to would all turn out to be in vain."

"Well sorry to disappoint you asshole but words like that are never gonna apply to members of Team Dragon. I was entrusted with the power of the Genryu dragon spirits and Naruto was entrusted with the power of the Nine Tails by the Fourth Hokage himself for one single shared reason, and that is to beat the ever living shit out of you. We've mastered these powers and now we're gonna fulfill those promises, and there's no way we're gonna fail now." he flashed into his own Genryu Chakra Mode, with Naruto flashing into his Tailed Beast Mode and Lee entering the Sixth Gate of Joy as well as his Leaf Dragon God Mode, increasing his power to match that of the other two "Alright boys, let's go and kick his ass!" and so the three of them charged into the fray.

"Those powers again eh? Not that they'll be anywhere near enough!" he phased through an attempted grab by Naruto and Tatsu's chakra arms.

"Kakashi let's go, they're gonna need our backup." Guy and Asuma both glanced over and noticed that Kakashi was sweating "Kakashi?"

"It's just not possible…" Kakashi muttered "That man, he couldn't be… No, there should be absolutely no way… He's dead, I saw it happen…"

"Kakashi!" Guy snapped him out of his thoughts "Hey Kakashi are you listening to me? The more diversions we have the better chance we have of success when we're attacking, we need to get in there. Listen Kakashi I think both Asuma and I have a pretty fair idea of what you're thinking right now and we both feel the same but you have to let it go for now. We don't have any time to wallow in sentimentality, our former students and Tatsu have already charged into action with the spirit of true dragons."

"How foolish can you be, attacking in such a frantic and disorganized fashion, and all by yourselves at that!" Tobi summoned a volley of gigantic shuriken and hurled them all forward at full speed.

Tatsu blocked them using a manifestation of his Genryu chakra "That's where you're wrong just like always, we've not all by ourselves. We've got our friends and our comrades backing us up every step of the way! Our friends from Team Dragon, from the Hidden Leaf, other jinchuuriki like Killer B and Utakata, and people from all over the world!"

"...Come on Guy, Asuma, let's get going." Kakashi's Sharingan eye snapped wide open and he charged forward.

"Yes you've got that right my dear rival, now that's what I'm talking about!" Guy followed him on the charge, with Asuma right behind him.

'Considering how much chakra that I have left I probably can only muster out a few more shots at the most before I'm completely out.'

"Am I really supposed to be afraid of a borrowed power that cannot even strong together a barrage?" Tobi's right eye snapped open, revealing his own Mangekyou Sharingan with a pattern identical to that of Kakashi's.

'This Kamui and it's timing, I can't mess it up!' Kakashi activated his own Mangekyou Sharingan in an instant.

"Watch and learn!" Tobi leapt into the air using the rubble for the sake of footing and prepared to use his Kamui 'Them knowing the mechanics behind my jutsu does not change anything.'

"Everyone get ready!" Asuma readied his Adamantine Nyoi "If he has to materialize when he pulls things in then then the same rule should apply when he pulls things out, this is the best chance that we've got!"

"That is to say if you're able to pull off a counter strike." Tobi fired off a barrage of Black Receivers, using the chakra chains that came with them to bind Killer B and Utakata by their tails and cut off their Tailed Beast chakra.

Lee quickly formed a Shadow Clone "Naruto those black rods have the Curse Mark on them that are meant to restrain the power of a Tailed Beast so whatever happens you can't let them touch you! Just fall back for the time being, I'm going to try something! Eight Inner Gates: Seventh Gate: Gate of Shock: OPEN!" his Shadow Clone flashed into the Seventh Gate and charged forward at full speed.

"Kamui!" Kakashi prepared to unleash his Kamui.

Tobi was ready to counter it, at least he thought he was 'If it's the same move then all that I have to do is make sure that Lee doesn't slip right through me.' he stabbed Lee's Shadow Clone in the gut, only for it to dissipate "What, a Shadow Clone?!"

Kakashi suddenly fell to the ground with blood pouring out of his left eye "Dammit…"

"It would appear that my attack was too quick for you to manage Kakashi, with you mistransporting Rock Lee's attack and then wasting another Kamui as a result. Such a disappointment."

"Not yet! TAILED BEAST BOMB!" Naruto suddenly took the chance to fired forward a full power Tailed Beast Bomb.

"A bit late and far too futile." and then he disappeared just as the Tailed Beast Bomb was about to hit him.

"Dammit, I missed!"

"No, that's exactly what we wanted to go for." Kakashi told him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tobi materialized in his alternate time space dimension seemingly safe, only to look up and notice something "What the- You're-"

"Rock Lee, that's who!" Lee charged at him at full speed.

'I see so that Kamui that Kakashi used wasn't meant for transporting the attack, but the Shadow Clone itself. Damn you Kakashi, you beat me to it!'

"So tell me… JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Lee dealt Tobi a powerful kick to the center of his face, shattering his mask almost instantaneously upon making contact, causing him to warp back to reality while the Shadow Clone dissipated.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Get ready everyone, he's about to warp back to reality." Lee told everyone to prepare themselves for when Tobi would reappear, which happened a few seconds later, finally revealing his face as the shattered remains of his mask fell to the ground in front of him.

Kakashi was frozen in pure horror and disbelief, with Guy and Asuma being about the same but not to the same extent "No way… it can't be… is that really you… Obito?"

"No that couldn't be, is that really Obito? I thought he was dead." Guy muttered, with Asuma just nodding in a stunned silence, followed by Tobi, now revealed to be Obito Uchiha, activating his Mangekyou Sharingan, which sealed the deal for Kakashi.

"There's no mistake about it, that Mangekyou Sharingan… that's Obito Uchiha, there's not a doubt in my mind."

"If that's the name by which you wish to refer to me then I will not stop you." Obito's gaze was filled with hatred and emptiness "But it means nothing to be, nor do any of the attachments the name once held."

"But you…" Kakashi's mind flashed back to the day of the battle of Kannabi Bridge, which made his expression even more grim.

"Is it just me or did his voice change after the mask broke?" Tatsu muttered, with Naruto and Lee both nodding in agreement.

"But I was there that day, I saw what happened. I… I had no idea that you had survived that battle."

"Who is this guy anyway?"

"He was one of our classmates at the Academy and an Uchiha, and a member of Kakashi's old squad under Minato-sensei." Asuma told him "We all thought that he had been killed by Hidden Stone shinobi during the Third Great Ninja War."

"But why…" Kakashi murmured "If you were alive all this time then why did you not come forward and return to the Hidden Leaf?"

"Because it would have had no meaning." Obito's voice was laced with venom "Whether or not I had survived is irrelevant. On the other hand, if you really want an answer then I suppose it would be because… you were the one who let Rin die." this left Kakashi speechless as he let out a bitter chuckle "Oh please just calm down, and what's with that look on your face Kakashi? It's not like I'm just gonna abandon my entire plan simply to chew you out."

"...So you have no intention of condemning me?"

"You say that like I have anything to gain from criticizing this absurd reality, I have no interest in the affairs of a world that is soon to come to a long overdue end."

"I see…" Kakashi lowered his head.

"Kakashi-sensei get a grip!" Naruto snapped him out of his funk "Look I'm not gonna pretend that I know what went down between you and your ex boyfriend but we don't have the time to dwell on it right now! We can talk about that crap later but right now our top priority is to stop what this guy is trying to do!"

"Well said my youthful comrade, very well said!" Guy turned to face Kakashi "Listen to me very carefully Kakashi, Naruto is absolutely right. This fight is about to determine the fate of the entire world."

"I have nothing more to say to any of the likes of you." Obito activated his Kamui and formed a hand seal "You can just stay tied down to this worthless reality and die! Fire Style: Bomb Blast Dance!" he combined his use of Kamui with his use of a certain fire style jutsu and attempted to incinerate Kakashi, Guy and Asuma where the three of them stood.

Lucky for all of them, Tatsu was able to protect them by manifesting a his full Genryu Mode and using one of his dragon wings in order to shield all of them "Or we can not do that and I can beat the ever loving shit out of you." this was followed by an unknown figure bursting onto the scene and taking nearly all of them by surprise "Oh crap."

"You sure took your sweet time getting here… Madara."

Sure enough, the smoke cleared to reveal Madara Uchiha himself in all of his Rinnegan bearing reanimated glory "And it would appear that you're having a great deal of fun over here without me Obito."

A/N:

Aside from the interactions between Sasuke and his former members of Taka along with Orochimaru, as well as the presence of Utakata, Lee and Asuma in the battle against Tobi/ Obito, there weren't really many divergences from canon. But I can assure you, the next chapter will feature another change from canon and it is going to be massive.

As for what that massive change is, let's just say that some of you may actually know about it already, if you read the Naruto oneshot that I published a few months ago, The Ties That Bind. It's one of a few changes that I'm going to be making to the overall war arc, mainly for the sake of my attempts to streamline it, try and improve it in a few ways. For those of you wondering about the gigantic celestial elephant in the room however, I'm still going through with Kaguya acting as the final villain of the fic. I stated in the notes of a previous chapter that I personally didn't have a problem with it. Granted the execution could've been better and it could've had more build up, but I do plan to work on that when I actually reach that point. And for those of you who still have a problem with the fact that I'm going through with including Kaguya, I have two things to say about that.

One: You can complain about it as much as you like, but you can't deny that it's still not as bad as the ending of Bleach. Seriously, I mean I follow the anime instead of the manga so I wouldn't know personally, but I know that it's gotten enough backlash as it is. The only one I can think of that people hate more than that would be the ending of Soul Eater, and based on what I've heard, that one is much more justifiable.

Two: Even if you guys do end up complaining about it, I'm less than inclined to feel sorry for any of you, considering what I recently found on the internet. You can find the link to it below. But in any case, while I do intend to streamline the ending in some areas, overall it's going to done in a way that I see fit.

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