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.

40. Pursuing a Dream, Battle Among Legends

(Pursuing a Dream, Battle Among Legends)

'This sensation…' Minato spared another glance over at Naruto as a realization suddenly dawned on him and tears began streaming down his face 'This feeling is so familiar… Even though we don't have many other options, I feel as if we can accomplish anything… Yes that's right, it feels just like it did when I was with Kushina.'

"I can feel all the power just building up inside of me!" Naruto gave a grin as his Tailed Beast Mode flared back into life at its fullest, and then he pounced forward "Now let's go, we've got a war to win!"

"Naruto don't be so reckless!" Tobirama called after him, causing him to stop in his tracks "It's all well and good to let out a shout and start showing off, but you can't honestly tell me that you've already forgotten that the only types of attacks that work on him are Taijutsu and Sage Jutsu?"

"...Oh crap!" and then Naruto's jaw dropped in a comical fashion, earning a series of dull looks from the others.

"You're officially a bigger idiot than my elder brother." Tobirama then spared a quick glance back at the others "Is he always like this?"

"Yes." was the simultaneous chorus from both Sasuke and Lee.

'...Then again, maybe this isn't the exact same feeling.' Minato let out a nervous chuckle "I guess he really is a lot more like Kushina than me."

"I can definitely see the resemblance." Kazuma glanced over at him, then spared a quick glance over at Naruto and watched as his body stiffened "I think he might have a plan to take care of this problem though, based on something I saw in the aftermath of one of his battles."

"What do you mean?"

"I noticed when he confronted a member of the Akatsuki that had the Rinnegan, he had been so overcome by rage that some of the fox's chakra leaked out while he was in Sage Mode, and he had both of them working simultaneously. The two of those powers managed to synchronize within him."

"And you think he's going to try and attempt such a thing now?"

"That would be my theory, and it actually raised another theory I have now. If Naruto is able to combine his Sage Mode with his Tailed Beast Mode, then maybe…"

"You have a plan I take it?"

"It's more of a hunch than anything else right now, but if it works, it just might be the push that we need to turn the tide of at least one battle. Evidently it seems that you have this under control as well." Kazuma glanced around at the others, then let out a sigh "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to leave this to the rest of you. Tatsu is still fighting against Madara, and he's going to need all the help he can get."

"We can handle this, go ahead and do what you have to do." Minato assured him.

"Thank you for understanding." so with a simple nod and a hand seal, Kazuma disappeared from the scene in a green flash.

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Meanwhile, with the Legendary Uchiha vs the main protagonist…

'So this is what the Wood Style is really capable of…' Tatsu glanced around at the wooden forest area towering high in the sky 'And this is just his bootleg version of it, I'd hate to see what Lord First himself could do if he really put his mind to stuff like this.'

"You said you were just getting started, but then so am I. Now the time has come for the second part of this battle." Madara leapt back onto one of the branches along the edge of the floating battlefield "Let's see what this so-called will you spoke of is really good for."

"Oh trust me, you're about to see what my will can push me to do in full." Tatsu gave a smirk as he dropped into a stance with the Dragon Blade in hand "Go ahead and make the next move, it's all yours."

"How obliging of you, but it's a mistake you won't live long enough to regret. Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!" with a wave of his hands, Madara summoned a large barrage of wooden spears and sent them hurtling towards the makeshift ground.

Tatsu didn't hesitate as he leapt out of the way of each spear, leaping across the ground and the sides of the tree actings a barrier around the battlefield they were on, and once he found a solid area to find some footing he formed a series of hand seals "This one is straight out of the handbook of my older brother! Lightning Style: Purple Thunder Stream!" he coated both of his arms in purple electricity and slammed them into the ground, unleashing a surge of purple colored electricity that proved powerful enough to evaporate the wooden spears, and then he looked up to see Madara charging at him through an opening "I'm not done yet, I'm just getting started! Sage Art: Lightning Style: RASENGAN!" he summoned a Rasengan in one hand and charged it with lightning chakra, and then he attempted to slam it into Madara's torso, only for it to instead hit his gunbai fan "Aw crapbaskets."

"Uchiha Reflection." Madara gave a smirk as burst of chakra emerged from the fan, sending him hurtling back and crashing to the ground in a scorched heap, only for him to then disappear in a puff of smoke "A Shadow Clone? Interesting."

"Lightning Style: Purple Thunder Stream!" the real Tatsu emerged a short distance away and unleashed another current of purple electricity along the ground.

Madara quickly found himself going onto the evasive as he leapt out of the way of the stream of electricity, though he quickly grew bored of this "Wood Style: Wood Expulsion Jutsu!" he formed a quick hand seal and summoned a wood dragon face in front of him to protect him from the attack, though it was quickly incincerated by the electricity, resulting in an explosion and a large cloud of smoke, which he used as a cover to blitz through the smoke and deal Tatsu a sharp kick to the face that was hard enough to send him hurtling backwards "Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!" he sent another barrage of wooden spears hurtling towards Tatsu.

'Shit!'

"Tatsu!" lucky for him, this was when Itachi broke through the wooden walls of the battlefield just in time to protect him from Madara's attack using his Susanoo and the Yata Mirror "Are you okay?"

"Well enough considering I'm fighting one of the guys strong enough to be referred to as the God of Shinobi, but I appreciate the save anyway. It's kind of nervewracking though."

"I can imagine so, I could feel his power even as we were making our way up here. He truly is a terrifying foe to have to face. I take it you have a plan?"

"I'm still more or less working on it, it's more of a theory than anything else, so just hang back and bear with me for the time being. For now just hang back and offer some defense, and I'll give you the signal when I'm ready."

"Whatever strategy you're going to choose is irrelevant." Madara suddenly blitzed behind the two of them and dealt Itachi a sharp backhand attack with his Susanoo ribcage before he could react, which sent him hurtling backwards, and then he promptly aimed a roundhouse kick at the back of Tatsu's head.

Barely having time to think, Tatsu managed to duck under the kick and dodge the next series of physical attacks, and once he found an opening he charged the blade of his sword with electricity and slashed Madara across the face and upper torso "Sage Art: Wind Style: RASENGAN!" he then dealt Madara a quick wind and sage-powered Rasengan to the chest while he was in the middle of regenerating, sending him crashing into the trunk of one of the walls that enclosed the battlefield "What was that you were saying about my tactics being irrelevant?"

"I meant what I said child." Madara nonchalantly freed himself from the tree as his body finished regenerating, and he formed a simple hand seal "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!" he breathed out an enormous sea of flames, setting the forest ablaze in the process 'Time to see how he can get out of this one.'

"Itachi!"

"Right! Amaterasu!" Itachi didn't hesitate as he activated his new Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and unleashed the black flames of Amaterasu to cancel out the remainder of his flames, as well as the incoming barrage of wooden spears that followed, before the black flames began to move towards Madara himself.

'So what's his next move going to be?'

"Almighty Push!" a brief shockwave of Rinnegan power was all Madara needed to extinguish the black flames, and then he brandished his gunbai as his body regenerated "Go ahead and show me what you can do when you finally get serious." and so he pounced forward as he prepared to unleash another Uchiha Reflection.

"Believe me, I intend to. Sage Art: Lightning Style: RASENGAN!" Tatsu summoned another Rasengan in his palm, this one powered by nature energy and lightning chakra, and he leapt forward and slammed it into the base of Madara's gunbai, the two of them clashing for a moment until Tatsu was able to overpower Madara, sending him hurtling into the air and crashing into the wall of trees on the edge of the battlefield, though Tatsu was left panting slightly as his Sage Mode markings disappeared from his face 'Dammit, I guess that was all the Sage power I could muster given how little time I had to gather it.'

"Evidently you're better than I was expecting…" the smoke cleared to reveal Madara quickly regenerating as he emerged from the wreckage "But now I believe the time has come for me to get serious."

'Judging by the attitude, I think it's safe to say that he's more or less been toying with me up until now. It shouldn't be a surprise, he said himself that he could absorb any of my attacks whenever he likes with the Rinnegan.'

"Playtime is over, now it's time to get down to business." on that note, Madara activated his Susanoo, and with one sweep of one of its swords he blew away the forest surrounding them and sent both Tatsu and Itachi hurtling away into the open sky above the crimson barrier.

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Meanwhile, with the battle against the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki…

"So he's planning to use his Tailed Beast Mode and Sage Jutsu at the same time. You've got the same me inside of you as your son, and you should be able to provide him with a fair amount of powerful support.

"Believe me, I already know that." Minato's own completed Tailed Beast Mode roared into life as he charged after Naruto, his eyes blazing with determination 'I'll be sure to have some of my own jutsu prepared too.'

"Alright, I'm all fired up and ready to go!" Naruto's eyes snapped open, revealing the toad style pattern in his pupils, along with those of his Tailed Beast Mode "I feel like I was able to absorb nature energy a lot faster as I am right now. You ready dad?"

"Of course." Minato then held up one of the arms of his Tailed Beast Mode to reveal the form of an enormous Rasengan that towered over the two of them "Alright Naruto, go ahead and add some of your Sage Jutsu to this Rasengan!"

"Got it!" Naruto raised one of his giant chakra hands to the Rasengan in order to infuse it with some of his nature energy "Now you're up Old Man Second!"

"Let's go then." Tobirama placed one hand on each of them, and then he, along with the the two of them suddenly disappeared in a flash 'They'll ward on ahead as the two halves of the fox ward off any attacks with their chakra.'

"This does raise a question." Jugo glanced over at Sasuke "Do you believe this plan is going to work?"

"We'll have to wait and see." Sasuke gave a small shrug.

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Meanwhile, with the battle against a legend…

"Playtime is over, now it's time to get down to business." on that note, Madara activated his Susanoo, and with one sweep of one of its swords he blew away the forest surrounding them and sent both Tatsu and Itachi hurtling away into the open sky above the crimson barrier.

'Shit!' Tatsu found himself being sent flying until a hand caught him, and he spared a quick glance up to see Kazuma holding onto him, and Itachi's Complete Body Susanoo hanging onto both of them at the same time "Let me take a wild guess, you put a Flying Raijin on my back at some point before this?"

"I actually I put one on yours and Itachi's back." Kazuma gave a shrug "Though I doubt you're really in any place to complain."

"I'm definitely not complaining about the save, but what about the others?"

"We're right over here." Shisui flew up beside them with his own Complete Body Susanoo having been activated, Ayame and Izumi both beside him "Sorry it took us so long to get here until now, we sent Itachi on ahead of us since he's the one with the invincible shield."

"Like I said, I'm not gonna complain."

"The question is though, how are we going to attack him?" asked Izumi "Any sort of average power isn't going to even touch him.

"I've sort of been working through any ideas I had to take him on as I've been fighting him, but so far he's about as much out of my league as I expected. Even with Sage Mode, he's more or less been toying with me up until now. Tenseigan Chakra Mode isn't going to be enough, even with both me and Kazuma using it and the rest of you backing us up. The only thing I can think of to do now would be to use my Genryu mode."

"There actually might be a way for you to go a step further. If what Naruto is trying right now is going to be any indication, it could give you the edge that we need."

"Hold that though, I have to check with my psychic spirit guide. What do you think, is he right about this?'

"He is. This is actually the power that I was referring to earlier. Combining the power of your Sage Mode with that of the Tenseigan, as well as the Genryu mode, it will unleash a power that can rival, if not surpass, that of the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki."

"You told me before that I couldn't use my Tenseigan and Genryu power at the same time under normal circumstances, because my body wouldn't be able to handle it."

"And you need Sage Mode to utilize the necessary amount of nature energy in order to stabilize the connection between them, and unleash your true potential, that of a power that goes beyond even that of the Light Dragon, beyond even my power. Then once you utilize the power of all of the Genryu, along with your Tenseigan and Sage Mode, you will become the most powerful being in this world."

"Sounds like an interesting prospect. I'll give it a shot, but I'm gonna need some time to make it work." Tatsu then glanced over at the others "I've got a plan to give us an edge but I'm gonna need a few minutes to make it work."

"You think that's going to give us enough of a push to win?" asked Ayame.

"I think it's the only chance we've got, and as much as I hate to ask this I'm gonna need the rest of you to buy me some time."

"Are you sure?" to that end, he activated his Genryu avatar and stepped onto the back of it, and his body went rigid.

"He wouldn't be saying it if he wasn't." Itachi glanced over at the others "For the time being, we just have to put some trust into Tatsu and buy him as much time as he needs." and so he and the others got into positions, both himself and Shisui's Susanoos brandishing their weapons as they prepared for the battle ahead.

'Thanks you guys, sorry about putting you in danger like this. But if we coordinate our attacks with his moves, it might make a big enough dent for us to have a fighting chance.'

"Whatever strategy you choose to employ is irrelevant, because your lives are going to come to an end here and now." Madara's gaze hardened further as his Susanoo sprouted four arms, each of them brandishing large chakra swords "But if nothing else, I'll see if this time you're able to make things interesting."

"Believe me, we've got every intention of doing just that." Shisui gave a smirk as his Susanoo, along with Itachi's, charged forward, the former summoning a chakra drill lance on its arm while the latter brandished his Yata Mirror, along with a newly formed chakra sword "I'll go ahead and take the lead this time, so go ahead and act as defense and backup."

"Got it." Itachi gave a simple nod, followed by a small smile "It's going to be the first time we've had the chance to team up in awhile."

"Then we'd better make sure not to screw this up."

"Demonstrate as much brovado as you like, it's not going to make a difference. Your lives end here and now. Yasaka Magatama!" Madara summoned a barrage of matagama beads and hurled them towards the group.

"Now!" Itachi blitzed in front of the Yasaka Magatama barrage and quickly fended all of them off using his Yata Mirror to block them, allowing Shisui's Susanoo to fly above him and prepare a counterattack, only for a chakra sword to come swinging at them 'Dammit!'

"I got this!" Shisui used his chakra lance to fend off the barrage of magatama beads, and then he opened up his Susanoo for Ayame, Izumi and Kazuma to jump out "Now!"

"Right! Wind Style: Great Breach!" Ayame formed a hand seal and breahed out a large wind tornado.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Caterwaul!" Izumi formed a hand seal and breathed out a large barrage of crimson colored fire dragons, which were promptly enhanced by the wind, creating an even more powerful attack, leaving a small crack in the front of Madara's Susanoo but otherwise not leaving too much of an impact "Kazuma!"

"I'm on it!" Kazuma charged into the fray next as eyes flashed cyan, and his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak flared into life as a golden-colored Rasengan appeared in one hand.

"You would be foolish to underestimate me." Madara slashed at Kazuma using one of the giant chakra swords from his Susanoo, only for him to disappear in a green flash 'So this one knows the Flying Raijin Jutsu? Interesting.'

"Golden Wheel Rebirth Rasengan!" Kazuma slammed the Rasengan directly into the crack in the torso of Madara's Susanoo, blowing part of it off and sending Madara himself staggering back a short distance "I can tell he's beginning to run out of patience Tatsu, if you're going to put our plan into action then you had better do it fast!"

"I'm just about ready!" Tatsu gritted his teeth as his white Genryu chakra cloak was adjoined with a series of patterns across his face "Okay, so far so good. You know you could've mentioned that being in the Genryu mode would let me gather the nature energy I need for Sage Mode a hell of a lot faster than usual."

"It wouldn't make a difference if I did, even seconds won't make a difference with an enemy like the one that you face now."

"Fair enough I guess. So the next step?"

"Now that you have the nature energy you need, you can activate the Tenseigan Chakra Cloak at the same time as your Genryu cloak to grant you the power you need to fight this wretch on equal terms. Just activate your Tensiegan and you'll see."

"Got it." so Tatsu took a breath as his eyes changed to cyan, and then a chakra cloak of the same color formed overtop the white one that was already there, and then the two of the merged into one single chakra cloak, one that was silver-colored with blue markings along his face "So this is it then, is this the power that you were talking about?"

"This is but a fraction of it, but it will suffice for the moment. You still have one more task you have to accomplish before you can awaken our combined power to the fullest extent, but there is someone you have to meet before that happens. For the time being, focus on the battle at hand."

"Fair enough. I'm ready then."

"That you are, now go and show them the power you now have at your command: the power of the Silver Dragon."

"I'm gonna show this guy what happens when you mess with me and my friends. And for what it's worth Hikari, thank you." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he put his focus back on the battle at hand, his silver-colored dragon avatar disappearing as he floated forward "Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long, but now I'm back and I'm ready to fight."

"Perhaps, but you awakened yourself too late. I told you before not to underestimate me, and that mistake is one that's going to cost you dearly. Yasaka Magatama!" Madara let out a snarl as he summoned a barrage of yasaka beads that he sent hurtling towards Tatsu.

"Yeah well that goes both ways!" Tatsu wasted no time as he started flying around the battlefield, dodging and weaving around, only to end up finding himself backed into the side of the crimson barrier as the attacks continued hurtling towards him 'Shit!'

"Get down!" Itachi dove down in front of him and used his Yata Mirror in order to block the attack "Shisui!"

"I'm on it! Susanoo: Tsukumo!" Shisui blitzed down in front of Madara and unleashed a rapid barrage of chakra needles at Madara's Susanoo, specifically where the cracks had been formed by their previous attacks, causing the cracks in question to grow even further.

'Good, just a little bit more and we'll be able to break through his Susanoo entirely. Just a few more pushes. Amaterasu!" Itachi's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan flared as he summoned a large wave of black flames that engulfed Madara's Susanoo "Tatsu, if you have a finishing move that you would like to make, now would be the time to prepare it."

"Way ahead of you, if this goes the way I think it will then one clean shot is all I'm gonna need to finish this." on that note, Tatsu promptly soared up high into the sky.

"Tenseigan Style: Golden Wheel Rebirth EXPLOSION!" Kazuma blitzed in front of Madara using the Flying Raijin Jutsu, and from his hand he summoned a golden sword made up of pure chakra, which subsequently ripped the Susanoo in half, causing it to evaporate, and then his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak faded as he fell back from the brief exhaustion he was feeling, leaving him to be caught by Itachi's Susanoo "Thanks… sorry, I didn't realize how much that attack was going to take out of me."

"Don't worry about it." Itachi gave him a small smile as he pulled him in, and then the two of them glanced upwards "Besides, it seems like this is about to come to an end."

"You're damn right it is!" this was when Tatsu dove down from above with his chakra cloak blazing, a silver-colored ball of chakra spiralling in his palm "This is it Madara, this is why you don't underestimate me! SILVER DRAGON RASENGAN!" with a primal roar, he resided a Rasengan packed with as much power from his Silver Dragon form as he could, and slammed it directly into Madara's chest, grinding a hole straight through his torso and sending him hurtling off the ground he was standing on, leaving him to hurtle down towards the ground below, and a loud crash followed as a result. With a temporary calm passing over them, Tatsu breathed a sigh as he fell to one knee 'I just awakened this form less than 15 minutes ago, and it's already kind of hard to manage all of the power I can feel coursing through me. It's kind of overwhelming.'

"You've handled yourself pretty well so far."

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Meanwhile, inside the barrier…

'So that's what they're planning…' Obito glanced down at the Flying Raijin mark left on his body, then back at where Naruto and Minato materialized behind him, and he promptly unleashed a barrage of chakra arms to try and stop their attack.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto and Minato both stopped Obito's chakra arms and promptly launched their Rasengan at him as the chakra arms evaporated.

Thinking quick as the chakra arms evaporated, Obito launched one of his Truthseeker Orbs into the Rasengan, resulting in a brief power struggle, but this quickly came to an end when the orb shattered (as a result of the nature energy in the attack) and the Rasengan being evaporated, which sent both parties hurtling back to opposite sides of the barrier.

As the dust settled, Naruto slowly pulled himself (or rather his Kurama avatar) back to his feet and let out a sigh "Dammit, that black thing he has really is solid. He blocked that Rasengan like it was nothing."

"He was able to predict what attack we would use, so evidently it's not going to be enough for us to just use the Flying Raijin jutsu in our strategy." Tobirama noted.

"So then we've gotta get close to him and destroy those black things, and I think I've got an idea on how to do that." Naruto held out his hands as a Tailed Beast Bomb began forming in the mouth of his avatar "Why don't we try adding some Sage Jutsu to a Tailed Beast Bomb and see what that does!"

"Alright, that's an excellent idea. This boy keeps getting more interesting. For all I know, he just might end up surpassing Elder Brother one day, and I doubt you're going to be the only one that does so either.' Tobirama spared a quick glance up at the forest tower hovering above the red barrier 'That boy from the Kamikaze clan, Tatsu I believe his name was, is fighting Madara even as we speak, and from what I can tell, he actually seems to be holding his own. It seems as though he may surpass Elder Brother as well. The question is though, is that going to be enough to defeat Madara, especially as he is right now? I suppose only time will tell.'

"I've had enough of your fruitless efforts." Obito burst upwards from within the cloud of dust as his gaze hardened 'There's no harm in taking measures early, and frankly it seems as though all I'll be doing if I don't is wasting time with these peons. Perhaps I should also suspend using the barrier now.' so he slammed his hands together, and then the massive form of the Ten Tails burst forth from his body, and with a quick hand seal he dissolved the crimson barrier.

'He just released the Ten Tails? Both of you be sure to stay on guard, I have a bad feeling about this." Tobirama was quickly proven right as he and the others watched the Ten Tails morph from its typical monstrous form into that of a massive tree.

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Meanwhile, with the rest of the alliance…

"Something seems off." Dosu frowned in thought as he and the others watched the crimson barrier dissipate "The barrier is disappearing, but…"

"Who cares why it's disappearing, now we can go and kick some ass!" Zaku gave a smirk as he brandished his boulder staff and prepared to charge, only to stop in his tracks when they all saw the massive tree burst forth from where the barrier used to be and take root in the ground throughout the battlefield, and then it only got worse when some of the roots started grabbing random shinobi and sucking the chakra out of them, leaving them as nothing but shrivelled up corpses as a result "What the hell…"

"If those vines touch you then they'll absorb your chakra! We have to run, now!" Kin was quick to grab both Dosu and Zaku by the hand, and the three of them took off running as fast as they could, though a fair number of other shinobi weren't so lucky, as they kept getting swept off their feet and drained of their chakra by the roots.

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Meanwhile, with a certain jinchuuriki…

"You've gotta be freaking kidding me!" by this point, Utakata found himself going on the run as a large number of roots and vines followed after him 'You try to go on the run, then you meet a guy from the Hidden Leaf and he convinces you to try and bury the hatchet with your homeland and taken on a student, one things leads to another and you got these things coming after you to try and suck you dry!'

"It gets even worse. These roots are from what we know as the Divine Tree, and it acts as the final known form of the Ten Tails. It knows that you have more chakra than almost all of the others here, along with Naruto and Killer Bee. At this rate, the chakra that all of them had received from Naruto and Tatsu will be meaningless."

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Meanwhile, with the other battle…

"I think I found him!" Tatsu and the rest of his group returned to the ground via Itachi and Shisui using their Complete Body Susanoos, where they found Madara slowly pulling himself out of the rubble "So what do you have to say now?"

"I have to admit, I am rather surprised." Madara let out a sigh as his body finished regenerating, and he slowly pulled himself back to his feet "The fact that you've been able to dance for as long and as hard as you have…"

"You told us before that we shouldn't underestimate you, but evidently it looks like you didn't take your own advice."

"So it appears. I've only been more or less toying with them up until now, that was only a mere fraction of the power that I was using against Hashirama, but still, the fact that he and the rest of them managed to handle that is no small feat. Not to mention this boy, Tatsu I believe his name was, he was able to combine his Tenseigan and Sage Jutsu with the power of the Genryu. I tried to gain that power for myself and failed, but it looks as though he's close to mastering it. I will admit this if nothing else: It wasn't like my fight to the death some time ago, but this certainly was a solid battle." there was a brief pause, and then the ground beneath them suddenly began shaking, taking all of them by surprise, especially as the barrier was dissolved and the massive tree took its place 'Don't tell me, is that fool Obito really starting with the Infinite Tsukiyomi already?!' this was soon proven to be correct when a series of roots started hurtling towards the lot of them, forcing them to go on the evasive.

"Quick, get to high ground!" Itachi and Shisui were quick to activate their Complete Body Susanoo's and take Kazuma and the others to high ground.

'So it seems he has started it after all.'

"Great, just freaking perfect!" Tatsu found himself forced onto the evasive as well "What the hell is this now?!"

"This is where it all began, because chakra in this world first originated with the power of this Divine Tree. All of the chakra here, even the amounts possessed by you and me, Hashirama and all of the jinchuuriki!"

"Yeah, I'm starting to notice that."

"Enough of this!" this was when Hashirama leapt onto the scene, dodging and weaving around the roots like the rest of them "As much as I applaud your efforts thus far in keeping Madara at bay, I'm afraid we can't afford to waste anymore time, so I intend to finish this fight with the rest of you."

"Not much of a fight right now though, according to your bestie over there we're dealing with what he calls the origin of all chakra in this world."

"What are you talking about?"

"Pretty much just repeating everything that he said."

"It's as I said, though evidently you don't know the story of this either, though I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised by it." Madara glanced between Tatsu and Hashirama "Humans had stolen the chakra of the Divine Tree eons ago, and now the tree is trying to reclaim what it believes to have been stolen from it."

"Now assume that either of us understand what the hell you're talking about."

"The endless passing of time has cast a thick and persistent fog over the truth. Tell me, do you know how shinobi came to be? Eons ago, in an age that's long since been forgotten, when the people of this world never even had a grasp of chakra, even then people still waged long and bloody wars with one another. The Divine Tree never became involved in any of these battles however, and was instead worshipped as a sacred pillar."

"So what changed?"

"Everything did, when the day came that the Divine Tree bore a fruit that was said to have been produced only once every thousand years. I don't know myself exactly what it signified, but it was dictated by legend that no one was to ever lay hands on the fruit. But the day came when there was once princess said to have come from beyond this world, in her desire to reap the powers of the Divine Tree and put an end to the war in which she was waging, and as such she took and consumed the sacred fruit, taking its powers for herself. As a result of this, she gained the power of what people at the time referred to as godhood, and it was said that she was able to single handedly put an end to the war. That princess was known as Kaguya Otsutsuki, or one other name that she was known by was… the Rabbit Goddess."

'Kaguya the Rabbit Goddess?" Tatsu frowned as he heard this "Hikari?"

"Yes, this is what I was referring to in your first encounter with this man. Now finish listening to what he has to say."

"So this Kaguya…"

"Yes." Madara gave a simple nod "She was the first being in this world to ever wield the power of chakra. Eventually the time would come where Kaguya bore that already had the power of chakra within him. However, the Divine Tree came to life and went on a rampage in order to take back the chakra that had been stolen from it. It became what we know as the Ten Tails, and the one that stopped it was that same child that had been born from Kaguya. The child went by the name of Hagoromo Otsutsuki. He was the one who preached about the teachings of chakra, and he was the founder of Ninshu. He was the forefather of shinobi in this world, but we know him as the Sage of the Six Paths."

"But how could you possibly know all of this?" asked Hashirama.

"I know this because it was inscribed in the Uchiha Stone Tablet. Tell me, do I actually have to bother explaining what happened to those who tasted the forbidden fruit for the purpose of ending all conflict?" he was met with silence "Yes of course you know, it didn't do anything to make a lasting change. In fact, the wars that followed would only become more gruesome as more time passed. I fell into despair when I learned of this. Don't you two understand? The truth of the matter is that there are no such things as true dreams in this world! Ever since humans have dared to taste that fruit, humans have been cursed and destined to hate each other with ever growing ferocity. And what's more, it is us as shinobi whose very existence that symbolize such foolishness, so surely the two of you agree with me. I know what I would rather do in such a case as that, and if you're smart then you'll do the same."

"So then, you're saying that relying on the power of the Divine Tree again and using a genjutsu such as the Infinite Tsukiyomi… Is this what you meant back then, when you mentioned your own dreams of the far future?"

"In a certain sense yes, but it has changed a little bit."

"Yeah well, whatever dream you have doesn't matter anymore, because it's not gonna become a reality." Tatsu waved his hand, and a burst of chakra ripped through the vines that were hurtling towards him "If you can't make your dreams into a reality in the world we live in, then those dreams might as well be nothing but empty illusions."

"So you claim, but I have a higher understanding of this failure of a world than you do."

"I know the world we live in isn't perfect, but if you can't find a way to work with what you're given, then I say that's the coward's way out. The bottom line is, I'm not letting you go through with your crazy plan. If I've gotta fight you tooth and nail to make sure this plan of yours never comes to fruition, then I will."

"As much as it pains me, I agree with the boy here." Hashirama glanced over at Tatsu "I have to say though, I find it to be very impressive that you've been able to hold your own against the likes of Madara for as long as you have."

"I had a lot of help from my brother and his team, so if anyone deserves your credit it would have to be them."

"I would never deny praise when it's deserved. Evidently though, I believe the time for us to enjoy a battle so leisurely has passed, so I have to ask you. Will you fight alongside me, will you help me to defeat Madara and put an end to this war?"

"...You know what Lord First?" Tatsu gave a small smirk "I'd be honored. Now let's go and do this already."

"On that we can agree. Would you care to do the honors first?"

"As if you had to ask." Tatsu's smirk widened as he manifested his silver dragon avatar "Now let's go, we've got a war to win."

"Your confidence is misplaced." Madara told him dryly as he jerked a thumb at the Divine Tree towering above them, a flower beginning to bloom at the top of it "When the bud at the top of the tree finally blooms, the moon will reflect the eye at the center of the flower, and that will trigger the activation of the Infinite Tsukiyomi, and the one that will accomplish this dream shall be me."

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Meanwhile, with the battle against the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki…

"Naruto hold on! Sage Art: Wind Style: Leaf Hurricane!" seeing that Naruto was being swept up by the roots of the Divine Tree, Lee burst towards the scene with his Sage Mode ready and ripped through the roots with a wind-enhanced Leaf Hurricane, only for the tree to generate new roots in their place almost immediately 'Dammit this is bad, there are so many of them. It won't matter if we can keep track of Naruto or not! Lord Second, Lord Fourth, will either of you be able to teleport us."

"I'm sorry Lee, but I'm afraid that's not an option." Minato told him "That last use of the Flying Raijin Jutsu and these vines have drained my chakra."

'Dammit, so then what the hell are we supposed to do?' Lee was about to charge up towards where Naruto was being held, until…

"Adamantine Nyoi: Twin Variant!" this was when Asuma and Hiruzen suddenly burst onto the scene, the former in Sage Mode and each of them wielding an Adamantine Nyoi staff, and a few quick sweeps of the vine and took the chance to grab Naruto and pull him away "Sorry we took so long, are you okay Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine…" Naruto gave the two of them a tired smile, Hiruzen in particular 'Good to see you again Gramps…'

"Saru hold on, we're teleporting out of here!" Tobirama dropped down in front of them with Minato and Lee, and then he grabbed onto all of them and they disappeared right before the roots could get them.

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Meanwhile, with the commanders of the alliance…

Having been fully healed thanks to Orochimaru and the others, Tsunade and the rest of the Five Kage were making their way towards the battlefield while riding on some of Gaara's sand, when they noticed the massive tree form of the Ten Tails in the distance, which led to the miniature clone of Katsuyu that was with them to explain the current situation to them. This only prompted them to pick up the pace even further, knowing that with how bad things were, the alliance would need all the help they could get.

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Meanwhile, with the rest of the alliance…

'It looks like things have calmed down a little bit.' Sasuke glanced around as the scene began to fall silent, only for his gaze to snap in front of him as Naruto and the rest of his group appeared back on the scene 'Then again, maybe not. Are you guys okay?"

"More or less, but…" Asuma cut himself short as he glanced around the battlefield, seeing the various corpses drained of chakra "Shit… this whole thing isn't gonna get better for us anytime soon is it?"

"I think it just got worse." Tobirama directed their attention up to where the enormous form of the Divine Tree was towering over the entire battlefield, then glanced over to where numerous shinobi were sprawled out throughout the battlefield looking panic stricken 'And to think that was little more than the first wave. Saru's son, Asuma I think it was, said it best. This isn't going to get better anytime soon. If anything it's going to get worse.'

"Shikamaru!" a short distance away from the rest of them, Ino was hovering over Shikamaru as he lay sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily, and she was trying to heal him, though she soon found it to be a very slow process 'This is bad, the fact that he survived one of the roots grabbing him at all is a miracle, but right now I'm not sure I'll be able to heal him, at least not on my own. Is there one of Lady Katsuyu's clones nearby? I need her to help me with healing him right away!"

"My apologies Miss Ino, but I'm afraid that's not possible." one of the Katsuyu clones told her "Even many of my smaller fragments that were attached to everyone have been drained of their chakra, and as a result all of them have died. To put it in simple terms, the various fragments of myself are in the same position as everyone else on the battlefield."

"...Then I guess the only thing I can do is keep putting in all of my strength." Ino gritted her teeth and tried to pour more chakra into her medical ninjutsu, only to be taken aback when the giant form of Samehada crawled off her back and onto Shikamaru's chest, and it suddenly began to lose some of its mass as Shikamaru started regaining some of his color 'Samehada… Don't tell me, is she transferring some of the chakra she absorbed into Shikamaru? I didn't even know that she could do that.' she gave a small smile directed at Samehada 'Good girl…'

"What the hell is poking me in the-?" Shikamaru cut himself short when he found the strength to sit up, and he blinked a few times 'Huh… okay, I wasn't expecting that. Here I thought I was gonna be right on dad's heels after something like that. Well at least mom isn't gonna scream at me for dying on her.

"Now be still and lay down in silence." Obito hovered high above the rest of the alliance as he extended a hand, his expression appearing to be rather solemn "All of you have endured plenty already. The fact is that the idea of shinobi is at an end, so there truly is no need for any of you to endure anymore or any longer than you already have. If you don't resist any longer, then I give you my word that I won't kill you."

"You…" Naruto let out a snarl as he glared up at Obito, his eyes brimming with tears full of anger and frustration "So many of them are dead because of you, and now…"

"You remember what I told you before don't you? It was because of your stubborn opposition that so many of them had to be sacrificed, and that you would end up living in a world where you would not be acknowledged by anyone. Unless you want to let yourself be filled with regret and misery, you will have to stop and do nothing from here on out."

"So you're seriously saying that if I just sit around and do nothing… everyone else isn't gonna have to die?"

"That's right, you will no longer have to endure anymore pain or suffering, and you won't have to hold onto a fear of death. You'll be allowed to enter yourself into a dream where your greatest desires become your new reality." Obito was met with a stunned silence overtaking everyone on the battlefield.

"Don't listen to what he says or give in!" Hashirama was quick to try and rally the others to take up arms again "If you were to allow yourself to succum to such a genjutsu, then it wouldn't be any different from accepting your own death!" he was met with silence 'He's trying to break their morale again, and it seems that he's coming close to succeeding.'

"Such a turn of events…" Hiruzen glanced around and frowned in thought "That giant tree holds a close connection to Obito, and they act as something akin to limbs that suck out the chakra of those they touch."

"Yeah, I think we kind of noticed." Asuma jerked a thumb over at Shikamaru.

"Whatever the case, we can't approach this carelessly."

"Such words of weakness are so out of character for you Sarutobi-sensei." it was at this moment that Orochimaru dropped down onto the scene, with Suigetsu and Karin following not far behind him.

"You're late Orochimaru. What about Tsunade and the rest of the Five Kage?"

"I've already taken care of healing them, and so long as they don't allow their cowardice to get the best of them, they should be arriving here very shortly."

"You're as sarcastic as ever I see."

"Yeah well, he gets like that." Suigetsu and Karin then made their way over to were Sasuke and the others were "Sorry we took so long, so what did we miss?"

"A fair amount, if that's any indication." Jugo pointed at the tree form of the Ten Tails right in front of them.

"Holy shit, now that I see it up close that thing is definitely huge. How long do you think it's going to take for us to cut that thing down?"

"To put it in simple terms, a lot longer than we have." Hotaru told him dryly.

"And there's only one thing to worry about right now…" Karin set her sights on Sasuke as her twisted fantasies started running through her mind 'I just wanna get my hands on Sasuke, go up to him and grab hold of him and-'

"You want to use your skills to heal as many of the shinobi present as possible right?"

"...Y-Yeah of course I know that, dammit what the hell do you take me for?"

'Evidently they haven't changed in the slightest in the time I've been away.' Orochimaru had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the exchange, then glanced over at Sasuke 'Even more evidently, he seems to be in a rather foul mood at the moment. It seems that the situation has taken a rather grim turn in the time before I arrived.'

'What is the meaning of this?' Hashirama, one of his Wood Clones that is, frowned in thought as he glanced up at the flower budding atop the tree 'When that bud blooms, that's when the Infinite Tsukiyomi is going to be cast, at least from what Madara told me. But still, despite having stolen the chakra of so many shinobi, the bud isn't showing any signs of blooming.

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Meanwhile, with a battle between legends…

"As if you had to ask." Tatsu's smirk widened as he manifested his silver dragon avatar "Now let's go, we've got a war to win."

"Your confidence is misplaced." Madara told him dryly as he jerked a thumb at the Divine Tree towering above them, a flower beginning to bloom at the top of it "When the bud at the top of the tree finally blooms, the moon will reflect the eye at the center of the flower, and that will trigger the activation of the Infinite Tsukiyomi, and the one that will accomplish this dream shall be me."

"Even if you get past the First here, you're still gonna have to get past me and a crapton of others that would never let that happen. Of course, that means you are gonna get past me, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna let that happen."

"You say that as if your very presence here makes any sort of difference in the grand scheme of things, but it doesn't. The Infinite Tsukiyomi will be cast one way or another."

"And when can we expect that to happen?" Hashirama's gaze hardened as he dropped into a stance, with Tatsu doing the same.

"Three of the Tailed Beasts still live at the moment, those being the Six Tails, the Eight Tails and the Nine Tails."

"Which means that the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts is essential if you want to make this jutsu work." Tatsu noted "But if that's the case then you guys shouldn't have been able to bring back the Ten Tails to begin with."

"My thought process exactly, though apparently Obito doesn't have any problems when it comes to cutting corners, being the damn fool that he is. But with that being said, if it contains even a small amount of their chakra within, then it will work, though not to the extent in which I would be satisfied personally. To put it in simple terms, it's not like it can't bloom. The only thing that is affected is how long it will take to bloom, and from this point on we have about 15 minutes until that happens. In that time, I intend to put a stop to Obito's foolish endeavos and switch places with him, and I'll have Hashirama's Sage power to thank for that.

"...15 minutes huh?" Tatsu gave a smirk as he drew the Dragon Blade from its sheath and promptly pointed it at Madara " In that case I've got 14 to take you down and then figure out a plan to stop that thing."

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Meanwhile, with the alliance…

'This isn't good, I need to ensure that everything the original heard is relayed to the rest of the Allied Forces.' Hashirama's Wood Clone gritted his teeth as he glanced around "Tell me, is there anyone here that belongs to the Yamanaka clan?"

"Right here." Ino was quick to bolt to his side.

"Do you know how to do the Mind Transmission Jutsu?"

"I can, just tell me what you need to say and I'll put it through to whoever needs it."

"Excellent, now I need you to link me to everyone here. There are details that I need to relay to everyone about the giant tree, and about the Infinite Tsukiyomi."

"Right." Ino placed a hand on the head of the wood clone and formed a hand seal "Go ahead Lord First, you should be getting through now."

"Excellent, I have to thank you for this."

"This sensation…" then came another familiar female voice "Is that you grandfather?"

"Sounds like Tsuna to me, and she's all grown up too."

"This voice, there's no mistaking that it belongs to Lord Hashirama." that one was Onoki.

"Is that the Fence Sitter boy? You sound like an old man."

"This is a good sign." Ino gave a smile "If Lady Tsunade and the rest of the Five Kage are close enough to be within range of my jutsu, then it means that they can't be that far away."

"Which means they should be arriving any minute now, but we're going to have to reminisce over the good old days later. I have things that I must relay to the five of you, not to mention everyone else on the battlefield. Listen to me very carefully." and so he started relaying everything to the others, their reactions to which… left a fair amount to be desired.

"So we're nothing but nourishment for that giant tree? Is that what shinobi are? Then how the fuck are we supposed to fight that thing? If we've only got 15 minutes left until the genjutsu gets cast, then that's freaking crazy! We can't even get close to the thing!"

"I know that, and yet doing nothing is going to yield the same result regardless. This means we have to either cut down that tree or defeat the caster within the remaining time. And keep in mind that I told all of you notto give up hope!" he was met with silence from everyone else present on the battlefield.

"I believe the time has come to retrieve a bit more chakra." Obito held out a hand and summoned one of the roots of the tree (now being referred to as the Divine Tree) to move towards the rest of the alliance.

"It doesn't matter what you say, you're just some dead person from the past that got brought back to life! The rest of us are all alive and we had to live through this!" once again, the others began losing their morale, some of them even falling to their knees as a result "It's all over now… If we knew it was going to end like this, then we shouldn't have bothered getting started with it in the first place."

"Yes that's right, go ahead and just stay like that. I promise you, I can and will take you to the ideal world, one without any form of regrets." Obito glared down at Naruto and saw him glaring up at him, tears of anger streaming down his face 'Just one more push, and his so-called spirit will finally be broken…'

"Yasaka Magatama!" this was when Itachi and Shisui both dropped down onto the scene with the others in their Susanoos, and they ripped through numerous branches of the Divine Tree with ease, shocking everyone present "Is that as far as your will is able to reach? After everything that has happened until now, is this how you want it to end? So be it then, but we'll keep fighting for the sake of our village, and for the sake of our world. Will you stand with us?"

"I know I will brother, for the pride of the Uchiha, and for the pride of our village. RAIJIN CHIDORI!" Sasuke activated his Susanoo (with Jugo riding with him) and unleashed a Raijin-powered Chidori, ripping through several branches and evaporating them with ease "Now let's go Jugo, we have work to do."

"...I can't let you guys outdo me." Naruto's eyes began burning with determination as his Tailed Beast Sage Mode flared into life once more, but that wasn't the only thing that happened.

'This is…' Ino was one of the first ones to figure out what was going on 'Naruto… I can feel it, these are his emotions, his memories… he's transmitting them through the jutsu!'

"Yeah, thanks for this Ino… Back then I could feel that connection with Sasuke, like I knew how he felt… I couldn't bring myself to call out to him, even though I knew I should've. I thought about it over and over again afterwards… but then Tatsu didn't hesitate to call out to me, and that's why…' he let his thoughts and memories do the talking from there, letting the rest of the alliance see everything, from the loneliness and isolation of his childhood to the mission to rescue Sasuke from Orochimaru's men, from Hiruzen's funeral to saving Tsunade during the battle with Orochimaru and Kabuto, from Gaara being brought back to life by Chiyo to his battle against Sasuke at the Final Valley, from Hayate's funeral to saving Sasuke after his final battle with Itachi, from learning about Jiraiya's death and grieving over him to when he and Lee fought and defeated Pain, to confessing to Hinata, to grieving over the recent death of Iruka, and all of his memories up to that point "And all of it… that's why I… I don't want to have any more regrets over anything. I never want to think if I should've done something but didn't… and even more, everything that we've done up until now, and everything we're gonna do… I don't want it to be meaningless!" his Kurama avatar roared into life as he joined Sasuke side by side "Are you guys with me?"

"I'm with you Naruto." Hinata was quick to rush to his side, leaving him to use one of his chakra tails to pull her in by his side "I will always be with you."

"And that's one of the reasons I keep fighting. Guess what Sasuke, the two of us are gonna be coming in too."

"And so will I." Lee burst onto the scene, his body still having the Third Gate open and radiating pure chakra and nature energy "We're going to keep fighting until our last breath, and make sure that we win this battle and return home triumphant."

"You got that right."

"Dammit, you wretched fools…" Obito gritted his teeth as he glared down at the others 'Even now Naruto Uzumaki, time and time again you continue to fight against me, you and the rest of your so-called comrades…'

"The only thing is, you guys do realize that the only things that work on him are Taijutsu and Sage Jutsu right? Old Man Second kind of had to drill that into my head."

"We know, we were right there." Sasuke pointed out dryly "He also finally took notice of how much of an idiot you are."

"Yeah well at least I know that I've got Sage Jutsu, what about you?"

"I've already got that taken care of. Jugo, you know what to do."

"Right." Jugo gave a simple nod, and his Curse Mark materialized on his body, which prompted a series of black markings to start spreading across Sasuke's Susanoo "This works because the power that gives me my… impulses comes from Sage Power, and back when you had been implanted with the Curse Mark made from my chakra, it immediately took effect."

"Which means it only makes sense that my Susanoo should adopt your chakra in a way akin to that, so I guess I have you to thank for this. Combining a Susanoo with Raijin and Sage Jutsu, it seems pretty overwhelming when you think about it."

'This boy, Sasuke Uchiha…' Tobirama frowned in thought as he observed him 'He's showing the same potential that even Madara once had… No, perhaps something even greater, if the spirit of Raijin within the sword deemed him worthy. Unlike the rest of those that were in that group he formed, his own power and spirit… Perhaps unlike any of the other Uchiha that had come before him, he seems to be different from the others. I can see it, from a lifetime of battles and war and trying to protect the village for the sake of the future… the day will come where he becomes a shinobi that surpasses even Madara. And then there's Naruto Uzumaki and Tatsu Kamikaze, the two of them as well, you both remind me of Elder Brother in various ways, especially when he was younger. Naruto is a foolish brat that screams about idealisms at the top of his lungs, and yet everyone trusts him and wants to depend on him. Then there's Tatsu, the way that he didn't even hesitate to charge into the fray with unwavering conviction and determination, and he keeps on rising to the challenge, all of them do really… Even Elder Brother is fighting alongside him as we speak against Madara. The others aren't too bad either.'

"Now come on guys, let's go!" and so Naruto and Hinata charged forward, with Sasuke, Jugo and Lee following right behind him, and the battle began anew.

Despite the sight of Naruto and Sasuke showing their resolve however, the rest of the alliance still seemed rather unsure and unmotivated in the current situation. Case and point…

"They really went off to fight this guy just like that?"

"Yeah we all saw it, so what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"I think we can ask once the five Kage get here, but is that gonna be good enough?"

'Evidently whatever resolve they still have is waning, so if there's ever a time for me to do this, it would be now.' Hashirama, or rather one of his Wood clones, gave a simple nod that he directed towards Ino, which prompted her to start her jutsu, showcasing his memories. To be more specific, they showcased to the alliance his memories of the first Five Kage Summit, between the original leaders of the five main hidden villages 'I understand all too well that our villages had never gotten along in the past, but each of our villages did what they had to in order to protect their fellow brethren and our clans. Perhaps there were times when we didn't have any other choice in the matter, and then the day came where, even if the Five Great Treaty would turn into a reality, I was unable to guarantee how long it would last, or if would ever even be able to hold onto it at all. But in my life I held onto a dream, that at a certain point in the future, there would come a day where shinobi would collaborate and help each other with one heart, putting aside any other affiliations.' he gave a small smile as he glanced over to see Tsunade and the rest of the Five Kage arrive on the scene, and his memories of that summit continued to be conveyed to the others "Back then I had asked the other Kage to help me in taking the first step towards that dream of mine, and I bowed my head and all but begged them, and so I beg you now, all of you my beloved children. Now the time has come for us to take all of the pain, the suffering and the endless frustration that we have endured as shinobi and weave it into this true dream that we share with one another!"

"It seems as though our generation no longer needs to talk about such dreams, though of course that should go without saying." Onoki stepped up to the front with the rest of the Kage and took a glance around at the others "But with that being said, if we don't win this battle then it will never come to pass and remain just that, a dream and nothing more."

"The Tsuchikage speaks the truth. In this battle more than any other, to be defeated is not an option, not that it ever is." Tsunade stepped up beside Onoki, along with the rest of the Five Kage beside them "The five of us will spread out and take command, because now we're going to spread out and take command, and show what the Allied Forces are really capable of. That is the primary duty that we share as the Five Kage."

"Agreed, now scatter!" and so they spread out to various corners of the battlefield as the other ninja present began drawing their weapons and readying their jutsu.

"Come on!" all the while, Naruto and Sasuke, with the others in tow, continued their charge against Obito as the former began charging a Sage-enhanced Tailed Beast Bomb "Sasuke let's do this!"

"I know, I'll be sure to stay in sync with you." Sasuke gave a nod as he prepared to fire a Raijin and Sage power-enhanced arrow from his Susanoo, and the two of them took their shot, only to be met with Obito using one of his Truthseeker Orbs and morphing it into a shield.

"Sage Art: Wind Style: Leaf Whirlwind!" Lee took the opportunity to blitz out into the open from his place in Sasuke's Susanoo and land a Sage and wind-enhanced kick aimed at Obito's head, sending him hurtling backwards as a result, with Lee himself being caught by Sasuke using his Susanoo 'To think he would be so unaffected by an attack that uses nature energy. There's also the fact that Naruto and Sasuke launched such a massive combined attack, and yet he seemed so sure of his ability to defend against it.'

"I'm growing tired of your impudence." Obito dematerialized enough of his shield to level a glare aimed at the lot of them, at Naruto in particular "You had best prepare yourselves for the inevitable that is to come.

"You'd damn well better believe we are!" and so Naruto and Sasuke, with the others in tow, both charged back into the fray, preparing for the next portion of the battle.

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Meanwhile, with the rest of the alliance…

'Come on Shikamaru, don't you fucking dare give up on me!' Ino gritted her teeth as she pressed on in her efforts to heal Shikamaru, only to be taken aback when she saw his chakra cloak begin to materialize around him again 'What the- How the hell is it… is this Naruto's doing? Even as he's in the middle of a fight, he's doing what he can to heal his comrades… No, it seems more like he's not even conscious while he's doing it. From the looks of it his very chakra is acting on his own, based on his own desire to help us. I guess I have my Mind Transmission Jutsu to thank for that piece of information. To think that you've come so far since our days at the academy. Tatsu was right to have as much faith in you as he did back then… Nevermind that now, just focus on doing what you can, and that goes for all of you over there. Speaking of which, I haven't checked in on him in awhile…' she spared a quick glance over in another direction, and her gaze softened slightly 'Tatsu, knowing you I bet you're off fighting against the other ridiculously huge threat we're facing right now, and you're fighting with everything you've got.'

"Great, isn't that just typical of the idiot…" Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh 'You never change Naruto, and I doubt you ever will change. You're always going overboard in pretty much every way possible, and now you're sticking your neck out for the rest of us and probably don't even realize it. How far are you gonna go? All this time, you've never held back or made any compromises when it came to any of us. I can't bring myself to complain about how much of a drag things are when I'm in front of you. Sorry dad, but it looks like thanks to that blonde idiot, I'm not allowed to join you just yet…"

"Take it easy Shikamaru, don't talk or you're just gonna be wasting your energy. There's no way in hell that I'm letting you die, not when everyone needs you right now. Plus I know that if I did let you die, your mom and Temari would kill me right the second they found out."

'...Not gonna dignify that last part. But still dad, I only found out later on that Naruto had to go through a crapload of painful and bitter things of his own over the years. I don't ever want him to have to go through that again, or at least that's how I feel when I'm with him. I told you that once didn't I dad? I said that he was gonna become someone really important to the village one of these days, and now that day is here. Naruto is that kind of guy that makes you want to follow him when you're around him. Unlike the First Hokage, Naruto is the kind of idiot that doesn't really have that adept brother like Lord Second to be his advisor. I mean he does have Tatsu, but he's got his half-cocked and reckless moments too, and it's the main reason why I need to stick around so that when he becomes the Hokage, I can stand next to that idiot and make sure I keep him and the rest of these reckless idiots in line. I'm sorry about this dad, but I can't join you up there just yet. I can't think of anyone more qualified than me to advise Naruto and keep him out of trouble.' so on that note, Shikamaru slowly started to lift himself off the ground.

"Okay, you're gonna be fine." Ino breathed a sigh of relief 'Thank you Naruto, looks like you managed to pull off another miracle, not that you're gonna hear anyone here complain about that.'

"Thanks for the help Ino, now come on, we've got work to do."

"Make sure not to overdo it too much Shikamaru, you might just end up becoming my advisor in the future." Kiba gave wide grin, only to be met with a few groans "What?"

"Anyone here can tell that the chances of you actually becoming Hokage over Naruto are about as likely as Zaku giving up porn."

"Hey!" came the indignant chorus from both Kiba and Zaku.

"Besides, it's pretty common knowledge that a Kage can have up to three advisors, and I think it's been established by now that you don't need to be an advisor to stand by someone in that position."

"Dosu speaks for all of us, and it's the absolute truth." this was when Tsunade appeared in front of the group and placed a hand on Shikamaru's forehead, then patted Ino on the head "Looks like you handled yourself well up until now Ino."

"I followed what I was taught, by you and by a lot of others." Ino gave a small smile.

"That's all any of us can do." then she glanced over at Hashirama, one of his Wood Clones at least, and her expression became filled with shame "Forgive me grandfather, I look pitiful right now don't I?"

"Come on now Tsuna, there's no need for you to apologize." Hashirama breathed a sigh "I was the one that ended up dragging this mess into the era of my grandchildren. The only one to blame for all of this is me and my own cowardice."

"Maybe, but your heart and the dreams you carried have also been passed down to this era, and even beyond it. You passed onto them your Will of Fire, and its still burns within every single one of them."

"Tsuna… I can see that you're doing just fine as Hokage." Hashirama gave a small smile, then glanced at the battle raging in front of them "Alright, let's take the opportunity and cut down this giant tree while our enemy is distracted by his battle against the others."

"There is Madara to consider as well though."

"My original self has him taken care of for the moment, and as surprising as it might be, he's also receiving some extra assistance from another child of this generation. A boy who's harnessed the power of the legendary Genryu."

"You mean Tatsu? He's helping you fight Madara? I shouldn't be surprised."

"I have to say, he is quite impressive."

"He's trained hard for so many years the sake of his dream." Ino let out a sigh as she glanced over in another direction 'Just be careful Tatsu, there's no way I'm letting you live it down if you die out there.'

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Meanwhile, with the battle between legends…

"...15 minutes huh?" Tatsu gave a smirk as he drew the Dragon Blade from its sheath and promptly pointed it at Madara " In that case I've got 14 to take you down and then figure out a plan to stop that thing."

"Even now you speak with such confidence and bravado. It would be amusing if it wasn't about to get you killed." Madara's gaze hardened slightly "But with that being said, you have proven to be entertaining if nothing else, at least up until now. Though I should warn you, I'm no longer in the mood to play games with lukewarm shinobi such as yourself."

"I think you'll find that I'm not like your average shinobi, far from it really."

"I will acknowledge that, but even being slightly above the rest of them won't be enough to save you now." on that note, Madara activated his Susasnoo and brought down one of its enormous chakra swords aimed at Tatsu.

"Well we're about to see about that aren't we?" Tatsu gave a smirk as he summoned his Silver Dragon cloak and a dragon wing made of chakra, stopping the sword with the wing and using a sweep attack to rip through the Susanoo and send Madara hurtling backwards, resulting in a powerful explosion as well 'He's not gonna be down for long, I have to try and anticipate his next move before-'

"Wood Style: Wood Golem Jutsu!" Hashirama summoned a wood golem that elevated both himself and Tatsu into the air right before a sudden blue flash ripped the wood golem clean in two, as well as a few of the surrounding mountains "Are you alright?"

"I'm not dead but we're still in the middle of a war, so meh."

"That's a fairly accurate way to put it." the smoke cleared to reveal Madara slowly making his way towards the two of them, only now he had donned his Complete Body Susanoo, awakened to its fullest extent.

'...Well shit, looks like he's finally getting serious.'

"I would say that's more than enough warmup wouldn't you?"

"You're not gonna hear me object."

"Nor will you hear it fom me." Hashirama dropped down next to Tatsu "You've handled yourself remarkably well against him up until now. Shall I allow you to continue and provide support as you need it?"

"Works for me, but you yourself had better be ready for a fight if there ever was one."

"I'll remember that, so long as you yourself are prepared."

"I'm always prepared for a fight. Now come on, let's do this." so with his Silver Dragon avatar ready, Tatsu braced himself for the next stage of the battle awaiting them "Now let's get this over with."

"You sound quite confident, but as I told you before, I'm not in the mood to play games or hold back against you anymore." Madara readied his Complete Body Susanoo "I never imagined that I would fight one who's harnessed the power of both the Tenseigan and the Genryu. I can't help but wonder which one is stronger, your Silver Dragon cloak as you called it, or the power of my own Susanoo. Though granted you have Hashirama on your side, so you do have that advantage going for you."

"As enticing as it is to fight alongside the First Hokage, he and the others are more or less gonna be my backup at the moment. The power I have right now is more than enough for me to take you on by myself." Tatsu glanced over to see Hashirama giving him a raised eyebrow "Hey you had a lifetime to battle him, now it's my turn."

"This turn of yours isn't going to last for very long." on that note, Madara started off the next portion of their battle as he burst into the air with his Susanoo, then brought one of his massive chakra blades down on him.

'Shit!' thinking quick, Tatsu leapt out of the way of Madara's attack, summoned his Silver Dragon avatar and used a single sweep of his claw to knock one of Madara's swords right out of his grasp, sending the Susanoo staggering backwards as well "Well how about it, you impressed yet?"

"I still believe that curious is a better word to describe it, for the moment at least." Madara took a moment to recover from the attack, then let out a chuckle "I have to say that this battle is one that I intend to savor. To think that you're able to match me blow for blow like this, now this is what a true battle between ninja should be like!"

"Now that much we can agree on, but I'm still not letting you go through with this whole plan to end the world with a genjutsu."

"As is far too noticeable in the teachings of Hashirama, you're blinded by sentimentality that connects you to this failure of a world. You should dare to dream once in awhile."

"I've got plenty of dreams I want to bring to fruition, but unlike you I don't need the help of some cheap illusion to make them become real. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't make your dreams come true in this world and try to use a fake one to make it happen, then that's nothing but the coward's way out. Draconic Art: Crescent Blade Dance!" Tatsu's Silver Dragon avatar summoned a massive chakra blade in each of its claws and hurtled forward.

Madara managed to stop one of the blades, though the other one ripped clean through him and his Susanoo, and while he regenerated, his Susanoo was left with a large crack in the torso from the attack "Impressive, but now it's my turn to go on the offensive. Yasaka Magatama!" with a wave of his hands he unleashed a barrage of Yasaka beads that he sent hurtling forward.

Tatsu used his enormous chakra blades to stop the Yasaka beads, but he was unable to defend against the slash of Madara's chakra sword that sent him hurtling back a short distance, though once he managed to recover from this blow he gripped one of his chakra blades and hurled it towards Madara at full speed, striking the Susanoo and leaving a gaping hole in it that and sending both it and Madara hurtling back and crashing into the side of a nearby mountain. As the dust settled, both Madara and his Susanoo were slowly regenerating from the attack, but rather than show anger, he let out a chuckle "I have to say that you do impress me, to think that you would be able to put up such a fight against me when I'm using my full power. Tell me, what is your name?"

"My name is Tatsu Kamikaze, you'd better remember it."

"I wouldn't be asking for your name if I didn't intend to remember it. Well then Tatsu, as I said you've done well to keep up with me up until now. Unfortunately for you however, I think you're about to find that I still have plenty more tricks where that came from. Fire Style: Dragon Flame Caterwaul: Susanoo Variant!" with a simple hand seal, Madara had his Susanoo breath out a barrage of fire dragons and send them hurtling forward.

Tatsu managed to maneuver his way around or block every one of the large fire dragons, and he shot a smirk at Madara "You know aside from my eyes and the power of the Genryu, there is one other thing that I have going for me that you don't."

"And what would that be?"

"I've got backup. Now!"

"Right!" this was when Itachi and Shisui dropped down behind Madara in their respective Complete Body Susanoos, still carrying Kazuma and the rest with them, and they quickly grabbed hold of Madara's Susanoo by the wings on its back and started using that to hoist the Susanoo into the air and start swinging it around, before letting it go and sending it crashing through a series of nearby mountains "Good, I wasn't sure that was going to work."

"It did, but knowing Madara it isn't going to keep him down for very long. Allow me to assist you from here on out. Sage Art: Wood Style: Shinsu Senju, Veritable 1000-Armed Kan'on." as a series of markings appeared on his face, signifying that he entered Sage Mode, Hashirama quickly slammed his hands together and summoned a colossal wooden statue that was able to dwarf even the size of Madara's Susanoo, and he sent the thousands of arms hurtling forward to launch another attack "MADARA!"

"HASHIRAMA!" Madara summoned another series of chakra blades that began clashing with the thousand wooden arms in an epic display.

"Genryu Art: Silver Dragon Talon Barrage!" Tatsu took the chance to join the fray and unleashed a barrage of chakra claws from his avatar that aided Hashirama's attack, the combination proving to be enough to overpower Madara and shattering his Susanoo, leaving him to fall to the ground amongst the resulting rubble "Don't forget that I'm the one you're fighting right now, you should be focusing your attention on me!"

"You wish for my attention? Well so be it!" Madara gritted his teeth and brandished his Uchiha gunbai and burst upwards from within the rubble "Come Tatsu, and show me what a shinobi of this era is capable of!"

"As if you had to ask!" Tatsu let out a primal roar as he burst forward and out of his Silver Dragon avatar, brandishing his Dragon Blade in time to clash with Madara and his gunbai, the collision of their weapons unleashing a shockwave that shook the entire battlefield 'Some say that the battle will never truly end, but still ninja keep up the fight regardless. We follow our paths, but whether you can accept it or not, yours ended a long time ago. Now it's time for me to follow my own path, to be the greatest shinobi this world has ever seen, and the next step I have to take in order to make that dream a reality is defeating you here and now!'

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Meanwhile, with the battle against the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki…

"Sage Art: Water Style: Rasenshuriken!" using his Tailed Beast Mode, Naruto promptly hurled a Sage-enhanced Rasenshurken infused with water chakra, and he hurled it towards Obito as hard as he could, only for the smoke to clear and reveal that Obito had used another Truthseeker Orb in the form of a shield to protect himself "Dammit!" and then he saw Obito hurtling towards them and prepared to defend against the oncoming attack.

"8 Trigrams Air Palm!" Hinata was quick to unleash a blast of air from the palm of her hand strong enough to send Obito hurtling back a short distance "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, nice work deflecting that attack." this caused her to blush slightly "Now come on, this fight isn't over yet."

"Right." Hinata's gaze hardened as she gripped his hand in hers, and she gave a small smile as she felt its warmth 'I always knew you would become someone amazing Naruto, and now you've become someone that's truly important to this world and everyone in it, you've finally achieved what you've always dreamed of, received the acknowledgement that you craved so heavily and truly deserved more than most other people. Now you're going to save the entire world and all of those who live in it, but you're not going to do it alone. We're going to be by your side for as long as we can.'

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Meanwhile, in another dimension…

At the same time, Kakashi remained in the Kamui dimension as he finished taking care of the wounds that he received during his battle with Obito, and he was preparing to make his return to the battlefield. However, as he continued nursing his wounds, he was able to see everything that was happening on the main battlefield through Obito's eye, leaving him to wonder if Naruto would be able to reach him and bring him back to being the person he used to be. Eventually he watched enough of the events currently unfolding to realize that Obito still possessed the Will of Fire, in spite of all of the hatred he held, and so he prepared to return to the real world.

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Meanwhile, on the main battlefield…

"The springtime of my youth is far from ending yet!" Guy's eyes blazed with determination as he prepared to jump into the fray head first "Let's go Neji, Tenten, and show Lee that the flames of our youth burn just as brightly as his!"

"Right." Tenten gave a simple nod, though she gave a quick glance over at Neji "Hey listen, when this fight is finally over, I've got something I wanna talk to you about. If you're willing to listen I mean."

"Um… alright then." Neji seemed rather confused by this, but gave a simple nod of his own, and the three of them prepared to charge into the fray.

"That seems about right for them." Asuma let out a chuckle as he watched Team Guy prepare to head out, then glanced over at the rest of his own squad "What about you guys, you ready to do this along with them?"

"It's kind of a drag, but I think it's about time for me to step up." Shikamaru gave a smirk as he steaded himself, with some support from Choji.

"That go for all of you?"

"Don't worry Asuma-sensei, I've been preparing for this for a long time." Ino gave a smile full of confidence as she braced herself.

"Alright then, I guess it's time for us to head out too."

'The Will of Fire… it seems that Tsuna was right after all…' Hashirama's Wood Clone looked around and gave a small smile 'It seems that your past is filtering into me through the others, and as of now you're managing to unite everyone… Naruto Uzumaki. It's thanks to the tempestuous life that you lead that you are who you are today, and now the way that you've lived your life has managed to give hope to the hearts of everyone else here. Now onward everyone, the time has come for us to pursue hope!" he was met with a series of battlecries from the others as they braced themselves "Now let's go!" and so everyone finally made the charge into the fray, with him and most of the Five Kage leading the various fronts, with Tsunade staying behind and preparing to cast a certain jutsu "First we have to focus on cutting down that giant tree!"

"Agreed, and know that we samurai shall not waver!" Mifune of the samurai didn't waste any time in cutting through a series of branches with his Kurosawa blade "Now go forth me, and show them the power of our conviction!" and so he and his samurai charged into the fray.

"Don't forget about the Uchiha, we've still got plenty of fight left in us!" this was the moment in which Shisui dropped down onto the scene in his own Susanoo, along with Izumi and Ayame, and the three of them started hacking away and ripping through numerous vines using his Susanoo and their various jutsu.

'Another Uchiha that wasn't corrupted by their Curse of Hatred, and he actually does remind me a great deal of Kagami.' with that in mind, Tobirama spared a glance over at Fourth "Listen to me Fourth, I'm going to use the link between your chakra and that of Naruto. I don't have the ability to move simultaneously like you do, but I'm still going to help with protecting everyone through my Teleportation Jutsu."

"And what about you?" Hiruzen took the chance to glance over at where Orochimaru was watching everyone move out and take part in the battle "Tell me Orochimaru, do you intend to take part in this battle as well?"

"There isn't anything about this war that particularly interests me." Orochimaru gave a shrug "But with that being said, this dream that Obito maintains would lead to the elimination of this, my own precious laboratory, so I suppose it's something that I'm going to have to protest."

"Then I don't suppose you'd be willing to lend me a hand for old time's sake?" he gestured to the series of roots hurtling towards them.

"So be it then, I suppose there's no harm in taking part in a bit of nostalgia, and participate in a bit of teamwork between sensei and student. Striking Shadow Snake!" Orochimaru unleashed a wave of snakes from one of his arms, capturing the root and allowing Hiruzen to rip it off from the rest of the tree.

'Dammit, so now even Orochimaru is attacking as well? I guess that means I'm going to have to shift into a more offensive form.' Obito's frown deepened as a series of branches started going after the alliance, only this time they had dragon heads on them.

"Get ready all of you, here it comes." Yahiko's gaze hardened as he and Konan braced themselves for the roots hurtling towards them, only for them to rematerialize a short distance away, taking them and the others around them by surprise "That was… unexpected, to say the least."

"You say that like us not being dead is a bad thing." Konan pointed out.

"I never said it was."

"As I said with the Fourth, I'll be using my Teleportation Jutsu to whisk away everyone that I see in danger, so feel free to go forth without fear."

"I'm assuming you heard that voice in your head too."

"That voice you're talking about was the Second Hokage." Konan told him "In any case, being under his protection means that we're free to fight with all of our strength, so I think it's time for us to put it to good use."

"Oh hell yeah!"

"But don't let yourself get too reckless, you have a history of doing that. Need I remind you of what happened with that one time with the two girls and the-"

"Don't even think about it!"

All the while, Tsunade and Ino stood side by side, their Reverse Seals both active "With both of us being adept at the 100 Healings, we should be able to summon at least 1/10 of Katsuyu's actual body from the Shikkotsu Woods."

"Assuming that she only has that much of her original body left." Ino let out a sigh "Looks like the tree really did a number on her."

"This entire war has done a number on all of us, but there's no use in dwelling on any of that right now. We're going to mold Katsuyu into the entire footing of the Allied Forces, into an area where people can be healed just by standing on her. Are you ready to do this Ino?"

"I'm ready whenever you are, just give me the cue."

"Then do it."

"Right. Summoning Jutsu!" the two of them slammed their hands into the ground, which promptly summoned Katsuyu's enormous form onto the battlefield, which promptly dissolved and started melding into the ground "Did you manage to relay that to everyone as well?"

"Yes milady, I had a Shadow Clone do that as we prepared the summoning. This will work out for everyone, and now they can fight without having to worry about their chakra being stolen by the tree."

"Then we'd better make sure to keep it up for them."

"Right!"

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Meanwhile, with the main battle…

"Sage Art: Wind Style: Leaf Hurricane!" Lee attempted to attack Obito with a Leaf Hurricane enhanced by nature energy and wind chakra, only for Obito to maneuver around it, as well as the follow up attack being launched at him via Sasuke's Susanoo 'Dammit, he really is fast, but it looks like Naruto and Sasuke are both getting better at following his attacks. Any moment now, the two of them will-

"Right there!" Naruto and Sasuke both managed to corner Obito and launch two simultaneous attacks at him.

'Yes, they have him! Once they do, I can take the chance to-'

Unfortunately for them, Obito was able to block each of them with his Truthseeker Orbs as he morphed them into shields "It's about time for all of you to go to sleep, and I will be the one to guide to into the dream-" he was cut off by a sudden uppercut kick to the jaw that sent him hurtling higher into the air.

"Sage Art: Primary LOTUS!" Lee blitzed into the air behind Obito, wrapped him in the bandages around his arms and sent him spiralling down towards the ground, leading him to crash into the ground in a heap "Yes!" but he didn't have time to unleash a follow up attack before he, along with Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode and Sasuke's Susanoo, were trapped by a series of black arms made from Truthseeker Orbs.

The smoke cleared and Obito rose back up into the air, using one Truthseeker Orb to repair the damage caused by Lee's attack, and holding onto the ends of the Truthseeker Arms he was using to bind all of them "As I was saying, it's time for all of you to go to sleep, and I will be the one to guide you into the dream." and so he started hurtling towards the ground, dragging the others down with him in the process.

"Sixth Gate: Gate of Joy: OPEN!" with a primal roar and a burst of green vapor, Lee was able to open the Sixth Gate to free himself from Obito's, though this wasn't enough to stop him from dragging both Naruto and Sasuke to the ground with a loud crash, unleashing a shockwave that blew away numerous shinobi and leaving a large gaping crater in the battlefield, and he gritted his teeth as he prepared to charge in "Hold on everyone, I'm coming!"

"Wait Lee!" Guy suddenly appeared next to him and held something out to Lee, specifically a pair of nunchaku with handles shaped like dragons "I once promised myself that I would entrust these Twin Fangs to you when you became a truly great ninja and showed that fact to the world, and now I want you to do just that."

"Guy-sensei…" Lee hesitated for a moment, then gripped the handles of the nunchaku as his eyes blazed with determination "I won't let you down, not now!" and so he dove down into the crater to continue the battle.

"You never have before, and you won't now."

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Meanwhile, in the crater…

"Dammit…" Naruto, having been forced out of his Tailed Beast Mode, let out a loud groan as he lay on the ground in a heap, Hinata cradled in his arms from where he was trying to protect her from the impact "Ow… Are you okay Hinata?"

"I'm fine, but you don't need to worry about me." Hinata was quick to reassure him as she got back up and helped Naruto to his feet "We need to keep going though."

"Yeah I know, as if there was ever any doubt. Now come on, let's do this."

"Why do you keep fighting against me?" Obito let out a snarl full of frustration "What is it that you keep persisting and fighting for? Is it for your so-called friends or this failure of a world? You should know that your friends are eventually going to betray you, and the world that we live in now takes love and turns it into hatred. You of all people should understand that. In the past, you had been betrayed by the people of your very own home, and the love that you felt for your own master Jiraiya led you to feel hatred. The fact is that you and I are the same. Given enough time, you will come to be changed by the cumulative weight of all of the suffering that you will have had to endure, and now you shall be assaulted by even greater pain, and yet you still insist that you're never going to change? You don't know when the time will come when you're once again betrayed by the people that you call your frends, or if the villages taking part in this so-called Allied Force will go back to fighting and hating each other as they did before. And what's more, you don't even know if you have the power you need to defeat me. There is no good reason for you to keep fighting for a world like this. It won't be long now, it's only a matter of time before the Infinite Tsukiyomi is activated. The fact of the matter is that this war of yours has ended, so why do you continue to fight?"

"...You really wanna know why?" Naruto glanced over at Hinata, then back at Obito as he felt her hand grip his as his Sage Tailed Beast Mode flashed into life once more "It's because I never give up, and I never go back on my word. That's our Nindo, our Ninja Way, it always has been and it always will be."

"So it is, but it doesn't matter anymore. You're out of time now, the bud on the tree is going to open soon, and when that time comes this world is going to end. You're out of time now."

"Maybe we are short on time now." this was when Lee dropped onto the scene, his new Twin Fangs nunchaku in hand, and he quickly dropped into a stance as he stood by the others "But that should give us just enough time to defeat you."

"So you choose to defy me as well, Rock Lee was your name?"

"I've never given up before and I don't intend to start now. That's one of the most important things I learned from my sensei."

"Of course, that ignorant fool Guy passed on his so-called youth to you. And I suppose that you two, Naruto and Sasuke, you learned the same lesson from Kakashi, Jiraiya and Itachi as well didn't you?"

"Even if we didn't, as if we'd ever listen to anything you have to say." Sasuke stepped forward and glanced over at the others, his body surging with the electrical power of Raijin and his Susanoo flaring into life "Make sure the others stay back, Naruto and I will settle this with the next move we make."

"Way ahead of you." Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, and the two of them shot a smirk at Obito as their Tailed Beast Mode and Susanoo combined into one enormous chakra avatar "We're gonna sleep tomorrow, and when we do we're gonna dream our own dreams!"

A/N:

Not much to say about this chapter, aside from having a few others along for the ride with Naruto and Sasuke as they take on Obito in another stand. They can't really do much in the grand scheme of things, but I thought it would be fun to have both Lee and Hinata along for the ride, the former of the two also receiving a gift from Guy to help him out during the battle: his Twin Fang nunchaku.

Speaking of going along for the ride, the battle between Tatsu and Madara has gained a new participant in the form of Hashirama. Now the battle between two legends has begun anew, albeit with Tatsu still in the mix, which should make things even more interesting.